Hannah Wants

Hannah Alicia Smith (born 19 June 1986) is a British house music DJ and producer better known by her stage name Hannah Wants, and a former professional footballer.

Early life and education Hannah Alicia Smith was born in Birmingham, England. Her grandfather was a DJ at parties in the 1940s and 1950s. She was also inspired by DJ EZ's mixing. By 18, she was playing local bars and spent two seasons in Ibiza to pursue a DJ career. She scored a hat trick in her debut for Villa Ladies enabling the team to come back from being down 0–2 at Liverpool to win the game 3–2. As a striker for Aston Villa she played from U10 through to the senior team level until retiring at the age of 23 to pursue a career as a DJ.

Music DJ career Wants began DJing in 2002 After three years of performing in small pubs she landed her first paid gig. Their single "Rhymes", inspired by the 2006 Busta Rhymes song "Touch It", reached #13 on the UK Singles Chart in February 2015.

Wants was named Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012 by both Mixmag and DJ Magazine. and Best DJ at the 2015 Bass Music Awards.

In 2015, she had a residency on BBC Radio 1. She was also invited for a Radio 1 Essential Mix by Pete Tong which aired on 30 May 2015. Her 2015 Mixmag cover was the highest selling issue that year.

Also in 2015, Wants launched her brand 'What Hannah Wants', which she designed to showcase up-and-coming DJs with an annual DJ competition and tours. (DJ Magazine'''s most played premiere of 2016). Wants produced the track "Dreamers" for the 2016 Katy B album Honey.

In September 2016 the blog Data Transmission premiered Wants' new track "Found the Ground". A few days later DJ Patrick Nazemi posted a Facebook video comparing the track to the Boddika VIP version of the 2012 track "Mercy" by Boddika and Joy Orbison, stating that the songs were nearly identical and accusing Wants of plagiarism. Others noted that there is a video of Wants playing the Boddika VIP version of "Mercy" in 2014 at a show in Leeds. Wants responded to the allegation stating that it was "no secret that the inspiration for the track was Joy O & Boddika – Mercy (VIP)" and that, while the tracks have similarities, she did not sample or plagiarize "Mercy (VIP)". The comparison video was removed by Nazemi shortly thereafter.

Performances Wants played in Maputo, Mozambique in 2013.

In early 2016 Wants embarked on a five-week tour across the UK joined by the 2015 winners of her What Hannah Wants DJ Competition. Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas in June 2016 and Mamby on the Beach in Chicago in July 2016. She played Coachella 2017 in April following a 14-date North America tour and South West Four Festival in London in August 2017. In November 2016, Wants announced a new tour series for 2017 called PLAY, focused on "dark, raw raves with a contemporary twist," featuring a diverse group of new and established DJs. The lineup for the 2017 PLAY tour in the UK included My Nu Leng, Shadow Child and Mak & Pasteman.

Awards

Winner, Mixmag Best Breakthrough DJ, 2012 Winner, DJ Mag Best Breakthrough DJ, 2012 Winner, Mixmag'' Star of the Year, 2014 Winner, DJ Award for Best Bass DJ, 2015 Winner, Bass Music Awards Best DJ, 2015

Discography Mixes Title Details Mixmag Presents: What Hannah Wants Released: 11 March 2016 Label: Mixmag Records Format: Digital download Fabriclive.89: Hannah Wants Released: 23 September 2016 Label: Fabric Format: CD, digital download

Singles YearTitleUK 2013 "Dappy" (with Chris Lorenzo) — "What I Want" (with Chris Lorenzo) — "Kneadin" (with Chris Lorenzo) —2014 "Girls" (with Chris Lorenzo) — "Signs" (with Chris Lorenzo) — "Rhymes" (with Chris Lorenzo) 132016 "Dot Com" — "Just" (feat. Kristine W) — "Hidden Love" (feat. Detour City) — "Dreamers" (with Katy B) — "Found the Ground" —2022 "Cure My Desire (feat. Clementine Douglas)" —2023 "The One" (feat. ARA) —