Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/888432
Let's take it right back to the be- ginning, what was it like growing up in Brixton? Growing up in Brixton for me it was just normal life, I don't know anything else. I had a great upbringing. My mum was a really great mum and gave me everything that I wanted and needed in life really and just the structure to my life was pretty great. I think it is better than some people from a lot of places. I can't really express how thankful I am to have the type of mother that I did cause she gave me ground- ing rules, regulations to stick by and it's helped me throughout my entire life. What were your dreams growing up? I came out of school wanting to be an architect and then I went into photography and art & design. I always wondered why I ended up becoming a singer, I never wanted to grow up to be a pop star, you know, some kids do and it wasn't really what I wanted to do. I was just fortunate that I was with a group of guys and my hobby was to sing and to play music and I just ended up in the right place at the right time, with a bunch of boys that loved music and really wanted me to take part and from the first track to now I have only ever been pushed to that. When did you meet the boys from So Solid? I met all the boys in Battersea and it's funny because I am sitting with the girl that actually introduced me to So Solid because she actu- ally dated my best friend from 13 years old, one of the boys from So Solid. She took me to Battersea for the very first time and I ended up getting left there with 30 odd boys, being a musician, so I should be thankful for my whole career to her really. Life is a journey, what is the greatest part of your journey so far? I think one of my greatest mo- ments has got to be shooting for Vogue magazine UK. That was with a really big photographer called Mario Testino whose actu- ally shot every single model in the world and his still going now, his absolutely amazing, he really is. And that was a massive achieve- ment and now I get to look back at that in the archive of pictures, and it's just like, wow! I think that is probably one of the best photo shoots and then just being with my crew, just like winning the MOBO, the Brits, the Q awards, there is just unlimited things that we have done together. And there's so many achievements we've made and just limited to today we have just been officially announced that we have gone triple platinum, which is 2.6 mil- lion copies were sold. Which is absolutely phenomenal for UK artists! Tell us about your latest track 'Wah Gwarn'? It's a track I created because it is one of those words that everyone uses, it's in my daily dialogue. And I just wanted to give something back to the clubs, introduce miss Mafia again. I really wanted to bring back that feeling, that raving feeling to the club, and all to intro- duce the guys that made it as well, who are called Four and it's been a fun first track to come back with. There's going to be a whole album of stuff that I am going to be put- ting out, between this time and next year and the EP is due to drop in November and the album is next year, so I am really excited to just introduce house & garage and my style back again. And obviously I am going to get some of my boys to feature as well so you can hear their new So Solid sound because it is abso- lutely phenomenal, we are actually ready to do it. I think Garage has come full circle, so I just totally want to be part of it again. Talking about the crew, how is the So Solid unit now? Everyone's really well, everyone's older now so we have got second careers. Whether that be acting or being a mum or dad, every- one's really busy, everyone's really hectic and everyone's got a lot going on. So it's been really good, but it's been really tough to get everyone together in one room, so we do that once a month. You have obviously grown a lot since you have been in music, what are some of your favourite life lessons? Just to keep going, never to give up on yourself and never to really let anybody else get you down or to make anybody else make you feel like you can't or it won't happen. So what else can we expect from you this year? Next for me is to keep working towards this album to be com- plete, even though it is complete, 30 tracks deep, there will only be 12 tracks on the album, I am still working on it and I just want to keep recreating until I get the perfect album. And House Maffia will be launching next February 2018 on fashion week, that's going to be fun, I can't wait to do that and that's it at the moment I think, that is really it. INTERVIEW LISA MAFFIA 2017 / ISSUE 103 35 HIP HOP & RNB " I THINK GARAGE HAS COME FULL CIRCLE, SO I JUST TOTALLY WANT TO BE PART OF IT AGAIN. " Lisa Maffia the First Lady of the iconic UK garage group So Solid Crew, known for their timeless number one single '21 Seconds', which arguably put garage music onto the UK music scene, lets us know how the So Solid Unit is doing now. Why she believes garage has come full circle once again and what we can expect from her upcoming album. Patience Takyuka | Guestlist follow @Lisamaffiauk