So Solid Crew's Romeo and Lisa Maffia inspire underachieving youngsters at Hanley Crouch Youth Centre in Stroud Green
Published: 5 March 2007
by PETER GRUNER
LEADING members of Urban music collective, So Solid Crew visited a youth centre in Islington on Monday night to “inspire” and “encourage” young people.
Lisa Maffia and Romeo spoke about their own experiences growing up on council estates when they visited the Hanley Crouch centre in Stroud Green Road.
The event had been organised by the Holloway children’s charity Ndoro who are producing a theatrical performance later this year involving a group of 20 young people aged from 13 to 20.
Lisa, born and brought up in Brixton, described how she began singing at 13 as a hobby.
She said: “I used to hang out with a group on our estate. They would say, ‘We all like music. Well, let’s do something about it.’”
The group started appearing in various venues and were spotted by a talent scout and signed up to make a recording.
Lisa, whose first job was working in a Next clothes store, said that most young people have dreams but don’t always take them seriously enough.
She added: “You have got to focus on your dreams, whether it is art, music or anything else and be positive in everything you do.”
Romeo, originally from Battersea, was a reggae DJ at 12, performing at the Notting Hill Carnival.
He said: “In many circles drugs and crime have become the norm. You’ve got to think outside that circle – too many people are stuck in a single frame of mind.”