Member Since: 9/11/2006
Band Website: MYSPACE.COM/TIMELESSDJ
Band Members: SO SOLIDUnconditional Nuff Love To The Whole Fam!An All The Respected People Who I've Met On My Travels - Half Way Around The WORLD!................Interview with MC Megaman, Lisa Mafia and MC Romeo.How did you all meet?Megaman: You wanna cut a long story short Romeo.Romeo: Me and Megaman have known each other for a good few years now, known each other since we was about 14, 13.Lisa Mafia: I've known Megaman for about 9 years. We met through either friends or schools or the area.So Solid are called the UK’s answer to the Wu Tang Clan, why?Megaman: As Americas put it forward with Wu Tang Clan or Junior Mafia or flipmode yhey have got a lot of people in their crew, we're like one of the first people to branch off coming from the ghetto with a lot of people in the crew doing our own type of thing as an independant black person not inside Ministry or Relentless and that. Thats where the stereotypes are from I think but don't call us Junior Mafia don't call us Wu Tang.Lisa Mafia: Call us so solid.Megaman: Thats it.Describe the So Solid sound.Romeo: DifferentLisa Mafia: CreativeMegaman: I'd say, you know what frustrated means, like with these british labels, I've been singing for time and dropping little raps on tunes and a lot of these english labels just weren't having it. It's all about american stuff. So with me growing up around hip hop and rnb and all that other stuff, garage is like a secondary, but it's more uk based. So the type of style we are trying to put out and the type of vybe were trying to bring is straight from the ghetto, put it in your face, a break down of RnB, rap, soul converted into one and that just brings out a dark underground bass with a bit more meaning to the music and the way we present ourselves. So I'd say rap, RnB, ragga, bit of soul, touch of garage all in one.What’s the story behind your debut single, Oh No?Megaman: We made this tune what a year ago, almost a year and a half now and at the time there were tunes out there like da click and stuff. So we just went in this guys studio made our own tune and put it on dublate and it was doing good on the station.Lisa Mafia: For the underground.Megaman: Yeah for the underground not to get signed or anyhting like that more for fun.Lisa Mafia: Not that we didn't want it to just we didn't think it would.Megaman: Yeah.Lisa Mafia: We thought the undeground people would appreciate it more.Megaman: Yeah so we worked on the tune, after a while i hooked up with G Man and said "lets make up this record label", G Man said "alright then fair enough paper money recordings how does that sound" so I was like "Yeah, alright then". We put out like 500 vinyls and they all went just like that, boom. So we kept on putting out 500. When we got to like 3000 4000 we stopped selling it and we just started to do our work ie pushing the tune for mainstream pushing the tune from our raves, pushing the tune from Delight FM, thats our radio station. Pushing the tune for outter london even out of UK with aiya napa, ibiza. We tried hard for this tune and i reckon if it's looked upon in the right sort of way then it will get appreciated in the way we expect it to get appreciated. If it's just looked on like just another garage tune then it will get appreciated as a good tune but not in the sort of way that we want to get noticed. If you listen to the tune at first you think "ah its a good tune" until you hear it over again and understand the true meaning of the tune the feel of how we are trying to, whats the word for it romeo?Romeo: Betray ourselves.Megaman: Yeah betray ourseves on the track, and you'll understand that its a deep tuneRomeo: proper.Megaman: yeah I'd say that on no thats the word is like got feeling for us now its been around for so long.Lisa Mafia: It's an anthem.Why are there so many people in the So Solid crew?Megaman: I do think because theres a lot of inspiration in garage theres a lot of people to look up to ie ourselves as being in a crew you hear that a lot of crews are looking to build and a lot of DJs and MCs are looking to come together and build crews rather than doing their seperate individual thing. Like before everyone was doing their individual thing and they thought "rah we aint gonna make it if we do our individual thing". You can never make it as an individual you do need workers behind you or workers with you to push what ever type of program you are on. Apparently there are a lot of MCs getting together like vocal fusion, they got together from time, doing their shit from day one but there is a lot of other MCs like CKP, Blakey, Creed, Viper, Melody, Sparks, Kie other crews like Heartless Crew and D.E.A Crew, they have been around for a while. But now that we've like broke through in a short space of time.Lisa Mafia: Taken over.Megaman: Yeah, they've noticed that they haven't really been doing enough in the garage industry to really push themselves. Like "Yeah lets get up there lets go bust up the raves, now lets keep busting up the rave", you know what I'm saying you have gotta take it that step further keep on pushing on. Theres no limits for us now.What does ‘keeping it real’ mean?Megaman: keep it real, understand why you got into music in the first place, understand why you came into the industry. Most people come into the industry like "As soon as I start making money I'm gonna bring in my friends and I'm gonna make sure I produce the tunes I wanna hear cos I'm tired of hearing everyday garage". But when they get there now, because they've seen the figures and the amount of money thats been thrown in there face all that changes. They forget about the music they really wanna put out, they forget about where they come from going on all snotty nose. Understand why you came into this in the first place and maintain that goal.What about when you’ve made loads of cash, will you still keep it real then?Megaman: A lot of people get a lot of money, and they look on the streets and they're like "rah I can't survive round here" and they think "alright well maybe I'll move now live in the country". There lifestyles change so what they gonna start rapping about now is their lifestyle. All the mixes are done in the city all the mixes are done in the gehtto where you really come from.Romeo: Thats when they start rapping about how much money they've made, Rolexes and stuff.Megaman: Yeah, that's all they have got to start rapping about cause that's their lifestyle. But now I reckon it's the ghetto really, it's the people in the ghetto they want you to get big, but when you do get big now they start switching on you. You wanna be in the ghetto, you wanna buy stuff for your friends, you wanna hang around with nice Rollys, big chains and ice and be in the ghetto still so you dont get that critism "Oh those guys have gone mainstream now." But when that does happen now, people wanna kick you out of the ghetto, they dont want you around any more, so it's confusing sometimes. I understand why a lot of artists do move out of the ghetto and I understand why they wanna stay in the ghetto and I understand why they used to rap about getting shot and now why they're rapping about what they have got.What’s in the future for So Solid?Megaman: Our business, our record labels, our promotion, our radio station. That's our future right now. Building beyond that, pulling in other artists.lisa Mafia: Get Bigger.Megaman: Like I said, dont see So Solid as Lisa Mafia or Megaman or Romeo or Neutrino or Oxide. Don't see So Solid as far as that. See So Solid as just the name as it is, see So Solid like a moschino or versace or avirex, as a name. Whoever wears that jacket looks good, whoever wears the name so solid looks good thats how i want it to be. Thats it.
Influences: All types of things influence me...
From My Daughter, Parents an close friends to great artists like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, The Gap Band, Major Harris, George Howard, The Staple Sisters, Teena Marie, King Tubby, Buju Banton, I Wayne, Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Junior Murvin.And also Aritists like Razorlight, Coldplay, Oasis, Robbie Williams an others.......Also Interesting films and programmes like...
Crash, Waist Deep, City of God, Ong Bak 1n2, Friday, House Party 1n2, Class Act, Uninvited guest, Redemption, Roots, A Time to Kill, Training Day, A Thomas Crown Affair, The Incredibles, Shark Tale, Finding Nemo, The Wiz, Simpsons, BangBang in da mannor, U.K artists dvds an shows, gotta keep up...Programmes about anything to do with ghetto life in London..... also documentaries about thing I don't kno about capture me differently, all sorts...Im different.....
Sounds Like: Me and my InfluencesIm An Individual!I Can Only Be Me ...
Record Label: LessTime Music
Type of Label: None