Lisa Finch Maffia (born 16 June 1979, South London) is a platinum selling English singer-songwriter, musician, 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, 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 platinum selling single "All Over". She was born to an Italian mother and a black father.

Biography

Early life and career debut

Maffia was born and raised in Brixton, London by her mother, Shirley Maffia. 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 has a god daughter named Alexus Lee-Chang whom attended virgo fidelis convent senior school which is located next to Norwood School where Lisa attended. But now she lives in Kent. 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".

2001-2002: They Don't Know

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.

2003-2004: First Lady

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. Promo for the album including support slots for artists such as Christina Aguilera, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Daniel Bedingfield and Blue. Due to lack of promotion, the album reached number 44, although the album failed to chart well, the album still sold a total of 97,000 copies.

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. After The Games, Maffia set up her own independent record label Maffia Recordz in which she released her underground single "Shake 4 Daddy" and signed acts such as North Star and MC Romeo. The label also signed the soundtrack to the film, Rollin With The Nines.

2007-2009: Celeb Air and recording for second album

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, Madonna, Kylie Minogue and others. On 10 September, Maffia released her single "Bad Girl At Night", whilst the single reached 36 and number 4 in the overall dance charts,[3] 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's CelebAir where cameras followed Maffia and other celebrities as they work as air hostesses. Maffia won ITV2's CelebAir on 23 October 2008. Lisa updated fans via her Twitter, that she recorded every other week (during January 2009-August 2009) working with various producers including Roger Sanchez and Bloodshy & Avant and to expect a surprise U.S. star.[4] While fans were waiting to see the release of Maffia's new solo material, she also recorded four songs for the comeback album of So Solid Crew including the buzz single "Since You Went Away", the video of which was shot late June 2009.

2010-Present: House Of Maffia and new music

In January 2010, Maffia released and toured with So Solid Crew on their single "Since You Went Away". The track reached top 10 in the independent singles chart, this led 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 January 2011. Away from music, Lisa held a press launch for her new online fashion store House Of Maffia in May 2010 and announced it was to launch Summer 2010.[5]

Awards

2001
Mobo Awards
Best UK Garage Act With So Solid Crew Winner [6]
Best UK Newcomer With So Solid Crew Winner [6]
Best UK Act With So Solid Crew Nominated[7]

2002
Brit Awards
Best British Video (With So Solid Crew) 21 Seconds Winner
Best British Newcomer (With So Solid Crew) Nominated
Best British Single (With So Solid Crew) Nominated
Mobo Awards
Best UK Garage Act (With So Solid Crew) Nominated

2003
Mobo Awards
Best UK Garage Act Winner
Best UK Act Nominated
Best UK Newcomer Nominated

Tours

Blue's & Soul/First Lady Tour

The First Lady Tour (also known as the Blues & Soul Tour) was a series of short concert-like promotional appearances at University and club-type venues by Lisa Maffia that took place from April to July 2003[8]
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Television

Maffia has appeared/performed on a number of different television shows including Top Of The Pops, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, CD:UK, Popworld and appeared in series three of The Games. She also won the 2008 series Celeb Air.

Modelling

Having modelled for Vogue, Elle and a range of women's and men's magazine's, Maffia has said in many interviews recently that she will be launching her first official calendar later on this year. She has quoted that the calendar is set around many different settings including in studio and Ibiza, and has been working with up and coming photographers. Maffia is also not a stranger to magazine polls. She ranked #91 (2002) in FHM 's 100 Sexiest Women, She ranked #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.