Lisa Maffia (born 16 June 1979) is a British singer-songwriter, musician, rapper, actress, fashion designer, model and presenter, who originally came to the public's attention as the main female member of

So Solid Crew So Solid Crew are a British UK garage and hip hop collective originating from the area on and surrounding the Winstanley and York Road Estates in Battersea, London which achieved wide success in the early 2000s. The group consisted of many m ...

. Whilst in So Solid Crew, the singer notched up five top 20 hits, including a

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

-selling single "

21 Seconds "21 Seconds" is a song by UK garage crew So Solid Crew. Released as the second single from their debut album, '' They Don't Know'' (2001), it was the first of five consecutive top-20 hit singles for the group, topping the UK Singles Chart in Aug ...

" and a platinum selling album ''They Don't Know''. As a solo artist, she has released two top 10 singles and an award-winning album including the platinum selling single "

All Over ''All Over'' is a two-act play written in 1970 by Edward Albee. He had originally developed it in 1967 as a short play entitled ''Death'', the second half of a projected double bill with another play called ''Life'' (which later became '' Seascap ...

". Her most recent release to date, was 2017’s "Wah Gwarn". Maffia is mixed race, born to a half-Italian mother and a Jamaican father. Often referred to as the "Queen of UK Garage", she is credited as one of the most influential acts within the

UK Garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

music scene.

Biography

Early life and career debut

Maffia was born in Brixton, London, the daughter of a Jamaican father and

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

mother, and raised by the latter, Shirley Maffia. Through her mother, Maffia is a second cousin of actress

Louisa Lytton Louisa Claire Lytton (born 7 February 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Ruby Allen in ''EastEnders'' and Beth Green in ''The Bill''. She also finished fourth in the fourth series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2006 ...

– Maffia's mother Shirley and Lytton's mother Jane Nastri are first cousins Maffia has a daughter, Chelsea, born when she was 18. She trained in Latin,

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

, tap and modern dancing and practised gymnastics as a child. She attended Norwood School in

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east ...

. Maffia then went on to Brixton College to do a diploma in Photography and Art & Design. In 2000, Maffia got her career debut when she added her vocals to the

track, "Oh No".

2001–2002: ''They Don't Know''

On 6 August 2001, whilst with So Solid Crew, "

" was released. It reached number one in the United Kingdom in August 2001. The single also won Best British Video at the 2002 BRIT Awards. With the success of "21 Seconds", the crew went on to release their debut album '' They Don't Know'' which ending up going platinum.

2003–2004: ''First Lady''

On 21 April 2003, departing from the So Solid Crew, Maffia made her debut at number 2 with "All Over". It spent three weeks in the top 10. She then released "In Love" which reached number 13. This led to the singer releasing her debut solo album, ''

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

''. Promo for the album included support slots for artists such as

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

, Ashanti, Loudbankcoast,

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...

Daniel Bedingfield Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...

and

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

. The album failed to reach the success of its singles reaching number 44 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, and led her to leave her record label. Maffia also performed her single "All Over" at the MOBO Awards.

2005–2006: ''The Games'' and Maffia Recordz

Taking a break from music, Maffia took part in the Channel 4 reality TV show '' The Games''. She earned a silver medal behind

Kirsty Gallacher Kirsty Jane Gallacher (born 20 January 1976) is a Scottish television presenter and model. She began her career at Sky Sports News in 1998 and hosted '' Kirsty's Home Videos'', '' RI:SE'' and '' Simply the Best'' before returning to Sky Sports ...

. After ''The Games'', Maffia set up her own independent record label, Maffia Recordz, on which she released her underground single "Shake 4 Daddy" and signed acts such as North Star and

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

. The label also signed the soundtrack to the film, ''Rollin with the Nines''.

2007–2009: ''Celeb Air'' and So Solid Crew reunion

In May 2007, Maffia announced on her official Myspace that she has been recording her upcoming album at the Murlyn Studios, known to have penned songs for

Christina Milian Christine Marie Flores (born September 26, 1981), better known as Christina Milian (), is an American actress and singer. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but raised in Maryland, she signed a contract with Murder Inc. Records at the age of 19. ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and others. On 10 September, Maffia released her single " Bad Girl"; whilst the single reached 36 and number 4 in the overall dance charts, the single had success over Europe leading to Maffia doing a European tour. On 20 August 2008, it was announced Maffia would participate in

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

's ''

CelebAir ''CelebAir'' is a reality TV series in which 11 celebrities perform the duties of cabin crew and check-in attendants. The series was presented by Angellica Bell and aired on ITV2 from 2 September 2008 until 23 October 2008, when Lisa Maffia ...

'' where cameras followed Maffia and other

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

as they work as air hostesses. Maffia won ''CelebAir'' on 23 October 2008. Maffia updated via Twitter that she recorded every other week (during January 2009 to August 2009), working with various producers including

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of "Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internationa ...

and

Bloodshy & Avant Bloodshy & Avant are a Swedish songwriting and production duo consisting of Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson and Pontus "Avant" Winnberg. They have worked with many prominent artists, including Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Ms. Dynamite, Madonna, ...

and to expect a surprise US star. She also recorded four songs for the comeback album of So Solid Crew including "Since You Went Away", the

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

of which was shot in June 2009.

2010–2011: House of Maffia

In January 2010, Maffia released and toured with So Solid Crew on their single "Since You Went Away". The track reached the top 10 in the independent singles chart, leading to various performances on ''Big Brother's Big Mouth'', Channel 5's ''Five Live'' and Radio One's ''Live Lounge''. With the success of the track, it was announced on Maffia's official Twitter that there would be one final album from So Solid Crew, and to also expect more albums from Maffia herself, with her next solo album to be expected in 2012. She also launched her fashion boutique House of Maffia.

2012–2013: Re-launch of Maffia Recordz

In March 2012, Maffia announced her underground single titled "Don't Stop the Music", featuring Maffia Recordz signees MC Romeo and Tyler Daley. Its worldwide premiere was aired on BBC'S 1Xtra on 8 April 2012, and then went on to be released in July 2012. On 22 July, Maffia announced via Twitter she would be teaming up with

Aggro Santos Yuri "Aggro" Santos (born 12 October 1989) is a Brazilian rapper who lives in Balham, London.

on a new track produced by Paul Morrell. Maffia also appeared on

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent. Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...

's album ''Angels & Demons'' on a track titled "X".

2014–present: New EP and autobiography

In July 2017, Maffia premiered the first single from her new album on BBC's 1Xtra, "Wah Gwarn". Maffia also announced she would be executive producer for UK film ''Little Lighty'', the first film to be produced under Maffia Media (Lisa's production company). In 2019, she presented her own music cooking show on BritAsia TV called ''Certified''. In December 2021, Maffia announced via Instagram her a new EP will be released in September 2022, and the release of her debut autobiography in 2023.

Awards

2001

;MOBO Awards **Best UK Garage Act (with So Solid Crew) – winner
**Best UK Newcomer (with So Solid Crew) – winner **Best UK Act (with So Solid Crew) – nominated

2002

;Brit Awards **Best British Video (with So Solid Crew) for "21 Seconds" – winner **Best British Newcomer (with So Solid Crew) – nominated **Best British Single (with So Solid Crew) – nominated ;MOBO Awards **Best

Act (with So Solid Crew) – nominated ;Dancestar World Dance Music Awards **Best UK Garage Act – winner

2003

;MOBO Awards **Best UK Garage Act – winner **Best UK Act – nominated **Best UK Newcomer – nominated

2004

;MOBO Awards **Best UK Garage Act (with So Solid Crew) – winner

2018

;Black Magic Awards **Music Honour — winner

Concert tours

Filmography

Films

* ''The Living Dead'' (2020) * ''Time To Collect'' (2021) * ''RoadGirl'' (2023)

Documentaries

* ''This Is So Solid'' (2001) * ''25 Years of UK Garage'' (2022)

Television

*''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' (2001, 2002, 2003) *''

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Af ...

'' (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2013) *''

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

'' (2002) *''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

'' (2003) *''

CDUK ''CD:UK'' (''CountDown:United Kingdom''), stylised as cd:uk, is a defunct music television programme which ran in the United Kingdom from 29 August 1998 until 1 April 2006. Originally run in conjunction with ''SMTV Live'', the programme aired on ...

'' (2003) *''Spring Break Live'' (2003) *''Smile'' (2003) *''The Games'' (2004) *''

Never Mind The Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'' (2004, 2008) *''Liquid News'' (2004) *''

Hell’s Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the e ...

'' (2004) *''Big Brother’s Big Mouth'' (2004, 2005) *''Deadline'' (2007) *''

''-Winner (2008) *''Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway'' (2009) *''

The Real Hustle ''The Real Hustle'' is a BBC British television series created by Objective Productions, Alexis Conran and R. Paul Wilson for BBC Three. The show demonstrates confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on ...

'' (2009) *''Celebrity Big Brother’s Big Mouth'' (2010) *''Live From Studio Five'' (2010) *''

The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...

'' (2010) *''

Celebrity Juice ''Celebrity Juice'' is a British television comedy panel game on ITV2, broadcast since 24 September 2008. The show is written and presented by Leigh Francis in the role of his alter ego Keith Lemon, and its current team captains Laura Whitmore ...

'' (2012) *''When Television Goes Horribly Wrong'' (2017) *''Certified with Lisa Maffia'' (2018) *''Don’t Hate The Playaz'' (2018) *''Pointless Celebrities'' (2018, 2019) *''

Celebrity Coach Trip ''Coach Trip'' is a British reality game show originally broadcast on Channel 4 from 7 March 2005 to 30 June 2006. The programme returned after a three-year break, from 25 May 2009 to 9 March 2012. In early 2013, the show went into hiatus agai ...

'' (2019)-Joint winner with

Mutya Buena Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (born 21 May 1985) is an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-pl ...

*''The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins'' (2019) * ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...

'' (2019) * ''

Trace Vault Trace Vault (formerly Video Vault and The Vault) is a British free-to-air music channel owned by Trace Group. On 1 November 2019, the channel rebranded as Trace Vault following TRACE's takeover of Sony's music channels. The first song on the ne ...

'' (2020, 2022) * ''Celebrity Hunted'' (2022) * ''Celeb MMA'' (2022) * '' Good Morning Britain'' (2022)

Modelling

Having modelled for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' and a range of women's and men's magazines, Maffia has also appeared in magazine polls. She ranked No. 91 (2002) in ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

s 100 Sexiest Women and ranked No. 77 (2002) in ''Loaded'''s Hot 100 Babes. In September 2007, Maffia was voted number 33 in the top 50 sexiest brunettes poll in '' Nuts'' magazine.

Business and ventures

In 2012, Lisa founded her own interior design & home staging company, House Of Maffia. In 2020, Lisa launched Salon 48, a hair & beauty salon in Margate. The same year she also opened Lyrical UK, a music industry personalised message service featuring artists from the UK Garage scene. In 2022, Lisa announced via Good Morning Britain the release of Rum Maffia, a line of alcoholic beverages.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (2003)

Singles

Guest appearances

* ''Deeper Part 2'' - Romeo feat. Lisa Maffia Released: 2002 * ''X'' -

feat. Lisa Maffia Released: 2013 * ''Shine'' - FooR feat. Lisa Maffia Released: 2018 * ''Bashdrill Remix'' - Shaqy Dread feat. Lisa Maffia, D-Live, J Kaz, Munie, & Big Zeeks Released: 2020

References

External links

Official Lisa Maffia Site

Official Lisa Maffia Twitter

Official Lisa Maffia Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maffia, Lisa 1979 births Living people 21st-century Black British women singers British contemporary R&B singers British people of Italian descent English people of Jamaican descent Black British women rappers British hip hop singers Italian British musicians So Solid Crew members UK garage singers English hip hop musicians People educated at The Norwood School People from Brixton Rappers from London Singers from London Epic Records artists Independiente Records artists Universal Music Group artists English Roman Catholics