So Solid Crew

So Solid Crew are a UK garage and grime group from Wandsworth, United Kingdom. They form in 1998 and remain active. The group has a large membership, including Asher D, AC Burrell, Dan da Man, Face, Harvey, Kaish, Lisa Maffia, Mega Man, Pierre Neil, Neutrino, DJ Oxide, Romeo, Mr. Shabz, Swiss and A.M. SNiPER.

Career and sound

The group builds its profile on the London pirate radio scene before crossing into the mainstream. They are linked with several pirate stations, including Supreme FM and Delight FM (103.0 MHz), where they run a regular Sunday presence known as So-Solid Sundays. Their output combines UK garage, grime, hip hop and rap, with DJs playing dubstep and 2-step garage tracks and MCs sometimes rapping over them for extended sets.

Singles and albums

Their best-known singles include “21 Seconds” and “They Don’t Know”. “21 Seconds” reaches number one on the official UK Singles Chart in August 2001, while “They Don’t Know” reaches number three in November 2001. Other charting singles include “Oh No”, “Haterz”, which reaches number eight in January 2002, and “Ride Wid Us”, which reaches number 19 in April 2002. They also release “Broken Silence”, a single that addresses government prejudice they face.

Their first album, They Don’t Know, is released in October 2001. A remix album titled Fuck It follows in December 2001, and another album, Execute, is also part of their catalogue. Their singles also include “Only Wanna Know U Cos Ure Famous / Dem Girlz”, “Up Middle Finger” and “Bound 4 Da Reload”, which uses music from the television series Casualty.

Later activity and related appearances

Members continue to release solo chart singles. Oxide and Neutrino also release singles, including work issued before So Solid Crew’s own run of releases. Harvey, MC Romeo and Lisa Maffia appear on the Channel Four reality series The Games. Harvey later plays football for Lewes F.C. after a brief spell at Wimbledon, and also takes a role in a West End musical. Swiss releases “Cry” featuring Sharifa, with a video that reaches number one on Channel U in November 2005.

Other notable associations

The group is also associated with notable legal cases involving people around the act: Carl Morgan, an associate of the band, is sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in October 2005, and Megaman is found not guilty of murder at the Old Bailey on 28 September 2006.