Where So Solid Crew are now 20 years on from smash hit single 21 Seconds – from botched boob jobs to murder convictions
IT'S been 20 years since So Solid Crew's anthem 21 Seconds became a number one single in the UK.
To this day, the track is remembered as a pioneering garage anthem – but where are its trailblazing MCs now?
The smash hit's title was taken from the amount of time each rapper had on the track – 12 bars of four beats at 140 BPM, or 21 seconds.
After emerging out of the south London pirate radio scene, the members of So Solid Crew enjoyed mainstream success in the early 2000s, including with their album They Don't Know.
But those halcyon days were followed for some by reality TV stints, agonising medical conditions, and even imprisonment for murder.
Cheryl Cole relationship hoax
MC Harvey pursued his own solo career after So Solid Crew, with his debut single Get Up and Move reaching number 24 in the charts.
Now 42, he's also made a string of TV appearances, including finishing sixth in the tenth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2012.
But he's arguably been most in the public eye since So Solid Crew for his romantic misadventures.
In 2005, Harvey married Alesha Dixon, but they split the following year after he had an affair with Popstars: The Rivals contestant Javine Hylton.
He would later split from Hylton following more infidelity claims before marrying dancer Ghamzeh Mahdizadeh in 2015.
But that too didn't work out, with Harvey reportedly leaving pregnant Mahdizade just two weeks after tying the knot to shack up with actress Elarica Johnson, reports.
And in 2013, he revealed a hoaxer tricked him into believing he was in a secret "communication relationship" with Cheryl Cole – for six months.
Insurance ad remix
Like Harvey, Romeo also pursued a solo career, even having a top ten single It's All Gravy with Christina Millian in 2002.
And also like Harvey, Romeo also finished sixth in Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 (Romeo was series nine, Harvey series 10).
He also took part in the show Fool Around With... Romeo, where he was locked up with four girls and had to work out which one was single.
Romeo even brought back his So Solid Crew anthem in 2013, rewriting the lyrics of 21 Seconds for insurance site Confused.com.
"I don’t think selling out comes into it," Romeo told at the time.
"It’s raising awareness with young boy racers about how important and easy it is to get insured. I’m doing it for the greater cause."
In 2004, Romeo was charged with slashing a man with a knife in a car park, but he was ultimately found not guilty.
Botched boob job agony
Lisa Maffia arguably had the most successful recording career of any of the So Solid Crew members.
Now 42, Lisa's first solo single, All Over, went to number two in the UK charts and she even went on to set up her own record label, Maffia Recordz.
And in 2012 she collaborated with Peter Andre on the song X from his album Angels & Demons.
Outside of music, Lisa has made headlines for a series of agonising medical issues in recent years.
She revealed she'd been left with years of pain from a boob job on Celebrity Botched Up Bodies in 2016.
Her breasts had continued to swell all the way to a painful size J after a surgeon gave her dangerous PIP implants – a 2010 scandal showed the implants were more likely to rupture than normal because they weren't made with medical-grade silicone.
Lisa underwent a successful surgery on the Channel 5 show to have them removed.
Following a cancer scare in 2020, Lisa was rushed to hospital in "extreme pain" from endometriosis and fibroids last month.
Endometriosis occurs when cells in the lining of the womb are found elsewhere in the body, while fibroids are benign growths in or around the womb.
Lawbreaker to TV cop
Just a few years after 21 Seconds, Asher D was winning awards as one of the country's most promising newcomer actors.
Ashley Walters, now 39, had a starring role in the drama film Bullet Boy (2004) and starred alongside 50 Cent in Get Rich or Die Tryin' a year later.
And since 2011, he has probably been best known for playing kingpin Dushane Hill in drug dealer drama Top Boy.
The first two series originally aired on Channel 4 but was then picked up for a third season on Netflix in 2019 after rapper Drake revived the show.
Ashley even had a brief return to music in 2012, releasing the single Your Love with Alesha Dixon, but the song failed to chart.
Since 2018, he played NCA officer Ronnie Pike on Sky One's police procedural Bulletproof, a show Ashley co-created with Noel Clarke.
Sky decided to cancel the show this year in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Clarke.
Before playing a cop, Ashley found himself on the wrong side of the law in 2002 when he was given 18 months in a young offenders' institution for possessing an illegal gun – he was 19 at the time.
Love rival killer
Carl Morgan was once So Solid Crew's producer and appeared in the video for 21 Seconds.
But to this day, Morgan is still serving time for murder.
In November 2004, Morgan was beaten up by Colin Scarlett – the new partner of Morgan's ex.
Later the same day, Morgan returned to Scarlett and shot him dead in Tooting, south London.
Morgan was handed a 30-year sentence for the cold-blooded killing.
"Gun use is the scourge of our streets and causes misery and distress," Judge Brian Barker told Morgan at his sentencing.
"You expected eye witnesses would be cowed into silence and that ploy very nearly succeeded."
Venue vaccine boycott
Megaman also stood trial alongside Morgan for the shooting.
Real name Dwayne Vincent, Megaman was accused of encouraging Morgan to pull the trigger – he was ultimately found not guilty in 2006 after spending a year in prison on remand.
"I ain’t gonna let prison get me angry and then spend my life battling the system," he told MTV UK after the trial.
"I was innocent. I look at my hands and say these hands are clean. These hands ain’t taken no life."
In 2012, Vincent was involved in a mass brawl at a Birmingham nightclub.
He pleaded guilty to one count of affray, saying he'd believed the man he hit was carrying a knife.
In 2013 he also launched clothing brand Cheats & Thieves.
Last month, Megaman joined Eric Clapton by declaring on Twitter that he would refuse "to show up at any venues that require people to be vaccinated before entering".
"Salute to all the promoters and venue owners who are standing by the people and REFUSE to take part in encouraging people to be vaccinated so they can earn money," he added.
Waterpark wealth
AM SNiPER made quite a splash in So Solid Crew.
Now performing as A!MS, Anthony Melas makes an even bigger splash in Ayia Napa – where he helped developed a Greek mythology-themed waterpark.
He's shot music videos for his releases in the WaterWorld park in Cyprus.
Entrepreneurial Melas also owns a marketing firm and his business ventures have clearly paid off for him.
Melas has spoken about his love of sports cars, including the Ferrari 550 Maranello in his own garage.
"I first saw this car in Bad Boys 2 and it was my first dream car," he told last year.
"I am still gassed to this day that I own one."
Repeat offender
Skat D, real name Darren Weir, was in trouble with the law even before 21 Seconds blew up.
In December 2000, he broke a 15-year-old schoolgirl fan's jaw after a gig in Cardiff when she resisted his sexual advances.
Aged 22 at the time, he was given a £1,500 fine but was spared jail so as to avoid hurting his career prospects.
His victim, who needed three metal plates fitting by surgeons, was awarded £3,500 in compensation.
Then in 2011, he was convicted again for punching a teenage girl.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Weir lashed out at his 17-year-old girlfriend when she refused to do his laundry.
Then 32, he was given a 120-hour community order.