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 Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a professi ...

Early life and education

Hannah Alicia Smith was born in

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

.Brailey, Louise
"Hannah Wants: 2015's DJ phenomenon"
''Mixmag''. 15 September 2015. Accessed 12 September 2016. Her grandfather was a DJ at parties in the 1940s and 1950s. In 2002, when she was 16, she attended her first rave and immediately wanted to become a DJ."Fatboy Slim bows down to DJ Hannah Wants ahead of Scottish shows,"
'' Daily Record'', 6 March 2016. She was also inspired by DJ EZ's mixing. She started practicing alone in her room playing

speed garage Speed garage (occasionally known as plus-8) is a genre of electronic dance music, associated with the UK garage scene, of which it is regarded as one of its subgenres. Characteristics Speed garage features sped-up NY garage 4-to-the-floor rhyt ...

bassline house Bassline (sometimes referred to as bassline house, organ house, Niche, B-Line, or 4x4) is a music genre related to UK garage that originated in Yorkshire and the Midlands in the early 2000s. Stylistically it comprises a four-to-the-floor rhyth ...

and old school UK Garage.Jemayel Khawaja
"Hannah Wants Nearly Died in a Plane Crash in Mozambique,"
''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

'', 10 December 2013. By 18, she was playing local bars and spent two seasons in Ibiza to pursue a DJ career. She earned a degree in sports studies at

Wolverhampton University The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute found ...

Professional football career

Prior to her musical career Wants played football for England's youth teams and for

Aston Villa L.F.C. Aston Villa Women Football Club is the women's Women's association football, football team of Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, currently playing in the English women's FA Women's Super League, Super League. The club has been in existence since 19 ...

She was also on the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first i ...

for over a decade."Hannah Wants: to Want and to Have"
''djmag.com.'' 7 June 2015. Accessed 12 September 2016. 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. She scored a team-leading eight goals in the 2003–2004 season when Aston Villa L.F.C. won the Northern Division title. As a striker for Aston Villa she played from U10 through to the senior team level until retiring at the age of 23Harrison, Dan
"Feature: From matchdays to Madonna"
''Aston Villa FC''. 7 October 2015. Accessed 12 September 2016. to pursue a career as a DJ."Hannah Wants Interview: 'The pressure is high',"

Skiddle ''Skiddle'' is a primary ticket outlet and online events guide based in the UK, with offices in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Preston dealing with event bookings, registrations, promotion and online ticket sales. It concentrates its core busi ...

, 12 September 2016.

Music

DJ career

Wants began DJing in 2002 starting out playing speed garage before moving toward bass-influenced house blending new and old music.Tim Hughes
"What Hannah Wants… is global DJ fame. Meet dance music's latest superstar ahead of O2 Academy oxford gig,"
''

Oxford Times Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

'', 18 March 2016. After three years of performing in small pubs she landed her first paid gig. Her breakthrough came in 2010 in Ibiza while on vacation from university, she was asked to fill in for a DJ to headline at the Es Paradis club. This was to be her first superclub gig after a series of competition wins at Viva! workers' bar in Ibiza.Byers, Ally
"Star of the Year: Hannah Wants"
''MixMag''. 23 December 2014. Accessed 12 September 2016. This performance helped her land her first UK residency at the Rainbow Warehouse in Birmingham which led to regular bookings around England. In 2010, Wants started creating bi-monthly mixtapes which she distributes on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

. Her early music was co-produced with Chris Lorenzo of Cause & Affect. Their single "Rhymes", inspired by the 2006 Busta Rhymes song "Touch It", reached #13 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in February 2015."Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo"
''Official Charts''. Accessed 12 September 2016. Wants was named Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012 by both ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' and ''

DJ Magazine ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...

''. ''Mixmag'' named her 2014 Star of the Year and she won the 2015

DJ Award DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retained the same et ...

for Best Bass DJ and Best DJ at the 2015 Bass Music Awards. In 2015, she had a residency on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. She was also invited for a Radio 1 Essential Mix by

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...

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. In 2016, she released three singles on Cr2 Records: "Hidden Love" (featuring vocalist

Detour City Tabitha Benjamin, known by her stage name Detour City, is a British, London-based singer and songwriter. Benjamin began her career as a folk musician, but has eventually become more involved in the world of electronica. Her vocals have been used ...

), "Just" and "Dot Com" (''DJ Magazines most played premiere of 2016). Wants produced the track "Dreamers" for the 2016

Katy B Kathleen Anne Brien (born 8 May 1989), better known as Katy B, is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, '' On a Mission'', in 2011, which spawned two top five hits, "Katy on a Mission" and " Lights On". In 2014 ...

album ''

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

''. In September 2016 the blog

Data Transmission Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point o ...

premiered Wants' new track "Found the Ground". A few days later DJ Patrick Nazemi posted a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

video comparing the track to the Boddika VIP version of the 2012 track "Mercy" by Boddika and

Joy Orbison Peter O'Grady, better known as Joy Orbison or Joy O, is an English electronic musician. His style is a coalescence of house, dubstep, UK funky, UK garage and oldschool jungle. O'Grady achieved underground success with his debut single "Hyph Mn ...

, stating that the songs were nearly identical and accusing Wants of plagiarism.Sophie Weiner
"How the Alleged Hannah Wants Plagiarism Scandal Became a Conversation About Gender,"
''Vice'', 14 September 2016. 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. "Found the Ground" appears on Wants' mix '' Fabriclive 89'', released on 16 September 2016.

Performances

Wants played in

Maputo, Mozambique Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

in 2013. In 2014, she toured Australia and played

Hideout Festival Hideout Festival is an annual electronic music festival held in Zrce, Croatia on the island of Pag. The first festival was in 2011, and landed on The Guardian's list of the best European festivals of 2011, and since then, has sold out every ye ...

Zrće Zrće (, ) is a long pebble beach on the Adriatic island of Pag and is located on the Dalmatian coast. Zrće is located near the town of Novalja and the area of Gajac, about from the town's center. It is one of over 100 Blue Flag beaches in Croa ...

. In 2015 Wants headlined her first North American tour – the Night Bass tour. She also played at

HARD Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

in the US,

Exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, Lost & Found in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and Glastonbury. Hannah has had a summer residency at Amnesia in Ibiza for three years. In the UK she has headlined festivals including Lovebox,

Parklife ''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994 on Food Records. After disappointing sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence i ...

, We Are FSTVL and

Creamfields Creamfields is an electronic dance music festival series founded and organised by British club promoter Cream, with its UK edition taking place on August Bank Holiday weekend, with a number of international editions held across various territ ...

."Hannah Wants Is Touring the UK"
''djmag.com''. 25 November 2015. Accessed 12 September 2016. 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. She played Electric Daisy Carnival New York in May 2016, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas in June 2016 and Mamby on the Beach in Chicago in July 2016. She played

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

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 includes My Nu Leng,

Shadow Child Simon Neale (born 20 January 1977 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England), known by his stage names Shadow Child and Dave Spoon, is an English radio DJ and dance music producer. He's also part of the duo Avec alongside Doorly. He was part of the lin ...

and Mak & Pasteman.Louis Anderson-Rich
"Hannah Wants Reveals Lineup for Play Tour,"
''Mixmag'', 17 January 2017.

Awards

* Winner, ''Mixmag'' Best Breakthrough DJ, 2012 * Winner, ''DJ Mag'' Best Breakthrough DJ, 2012 * Winner, ''Mixmag'' Star of the Year, 2014 * Winner,

for Best Bass DJ, 2015 * Winner, Bass Music Awards Best DJ, 2015 * Nominee, DJ Award for Best Bass DJ, 2016

Discography

Mixes

Singles

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wants, Hannah Living people 1986 births English electronic musicians English house musicians Club DJs Remixers English women DJs DJs from Birmingham LGBT DJs English LGBT musicians English women in electronic music English record producers British women record producers English women's footballers Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Aston Villa W.F.C. players Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton Women's association football forwards 21st-century English women musicians Electronic dance music DJs