Lisa Finch Maffia[1] (born 16 June 1979,
South London) is an
English singer-songwriter, model,
musician and
presenter, who originally came to the public's attention as the main female member of
So Solid Crew. Whilst in So Solid, the singer notched up 5 top 20 hits, including a platinum selling single "21 Seconds" 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 gold selling single "
All Over". She was born to an
Italian mother and a
black father.
Maffia was born and raised in Brixton, London. Her mother is Shirley Maffia and her father is unknown. She has a daughter, Chelsea, born when she was 17. She trained in Latino, ballroom, tap and modern dancing and practiced gymnastics as a child. She went to Norwood School in West Norwood and 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 So Solid Crew track, "Oh No".
On 6 August 2001, whilst with So Solid Crew, Maffia released "21 Seconds". It reached number one in the UK Singles Chart 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.
On 21 April 2003, departing from the So Solid Crew, Maffia made her debut at number 2 with the hip hop, ragga styled "All Over".[2]. It spent 3 weeks in the top 10. Lisa then released the R&B Spanish styled "In Love" which reached number 13. This led to the singer releasing her debut solo album, First Lady. The album reached number 44, although the album failed to chart well, the album still sold a total of 97,000 copies.
