Marvin Dawkins (born 23 October 1980), better known by his stage name Romeo, Nigel, or MC Romeo, is a British rapper and
MC.
Biography
Romeo first found fame in the garage group
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 ...
, having grown up on and around the notorious Surrey Lane,
Winstanley and Badric Court estates of Battersea. He subsequently had a solo career. He got his name Romeo due to his smoothness with the ladies.
Romeo released his solo album ''Solid Love'' in November 2002, through Relentless records, the label that So Solid had just left for Independiente.
He enjoyed two top 10 singles, "Romeo Dunn'em" which reached No. 3 in 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 2002, and secondly a
duet
A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
with
Christina Milian, "
It's All Gravy", which reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart in the same year.
However, only a disappointing 40,000 copies sold of his album, peaking at No. 46 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 ...
. In March 2003, Relentless filed for bankruptcy with debts of £3m.
In 2004, Romeo appeared in the reality show ''
The Games'', and returned to the series to compete in the ''Champion of Champions'' contest in 2006. Romeo also featured in a gameshow called ''Fool Around With... Romeo'' on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in 2005, in which he had to guess which girl out of four was single.
In August 2004, Romeo was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and violent disorder after slashing the face of Ejay Armstrong with a knife when it was alleged that he joined friends in a dispute after a night out in London's
Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
. In June 2005, the jury failed to reach a verdict against him and the prosecution was suspended. During the retrial in November 2005, he told the jury that he had been trying to act as peacemaker and was found not guilty of wounding with intent when the prosecution decided not to continue the case.
Romeo appeared in an episode of ''
Don't Tell the Bride'' on BBC Three on 22 September 2009, as the best man for his brother, Darnell Dawkins.
Romeo is currently signed to So Solid's
Lisa Maffia
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. Whilst in So Solid Crew, ...
's
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
, Maffia Recordz. A second album, announced for release during 2008, has not yet materialised. In 2009, Romeo and fellow members of So Solid Crew attempted a musical comeback with the single "Since You Went Away".
Romeo appeared in ''
Celebrity Big Brother 2012'' up until his eviction on 25 January 2012 just narrowly missing out on the final.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Singles
As a featured artist
References
External links
Unreality TV – Romeo News, Gossip and ChatRomeo HeavenRomeo Lovers Yahoo Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romeo (MC)
1980 births
Living people
Black British male rappers
English male rappers
People from Battersea
Rappers from London
So Solid Crew members
UK garage musicians
English people of Nigerian descent