Michael Harvey Jr. (born 1 May 1979), better known as MC Harvey or simply Harvey, is a British rapper. He first came to fame in the early 2000s as a member of rap group

So Solid Crew So Solid Crew are a British UK garage and hip hop collective originating from Battersea, London, which achieved wide success in the early 2000s. The group consisted of many members, the most notable being Asher D (Ashley Walters), Lisa Ma ...

before then pursuing a solo career in 2008. In 2012, he was a contestant on '' Celebrity Big Brother 10''.

Early life

Harvey was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, the son of Michael Harvey, a bodybuilder and former '' Gladiators'' participant "Bullit". Harvey (Sr.) owns a record label, Artiste Promotion & Management (APM), to which Harvey was once signed.

Music career

So Solid Crew

Growing up on the Plough Road area of

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

in South London, Harvey was one of the founder members of

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

collective

. So Solid Crew's first album '' They Don't Know'' was released in October 2001, followed by a remix album entitled ''Fuck It'' in December 2001. They also had tracks on the UK garage CD series '' Pure Garage''. In 2002 Harvey and the rest of So Solid Crew were the subject of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

television documentary, ''This Is So Solid'', directed and narrated by David Upshal. This was later released on DVD by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

along with a live performance.

Solo career

After leaving the group, Harvey released his first solo single, "Get Up and Move", which went into the charts at number 24. His debut album ''Back to the Beginning'' was released in 2008 and produced singles "Excuse Me Miss", which featured

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

and Asher D, and "If I Was Your Man", featuring Nathan. The album failed to chart. It 2011 Harvey released Hot Gyal Ft. Mista Brown and

Gyptian Windel Beneto Edwards (born 25 October 1983), better known by his stage name Gyptian (), is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall. Early life Born to a Seventh-day Adventist mo ...

, which was a big hit on the clubscene. In 2012, he released another song called "Finally Along" with Lady Lesharr and former footballer

Leon McKenzie Leon Mark McKenzie (born 17 May 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1995 to 2013 who scored in all four English professional leagues during his career. He was also a professional boxer, competing in ...

; a new album is to follow. The same night he entered '' Big Brother'' he released a new mixtape that is available to download from his Twitter.

Other ventures

Acting

He made his theatre début in London's West End in the musical '' Daddy Cool'' in 2006. He joined the line-up of Angie Le Mar's play ''The Brothers'' at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "the most beautiful theat ...

in 2008. The play was broadcast on MTV Base. He also had a hit show on MTV Base called ''The Young Gods of Comedy''. He visited Robertsbridge Community College as a motivational speaker about the music industry, singing songs and inviting students to show their rapping skills. He appeared in the 2010 British gangster film '' The Big I Am'' as Robbo. In 2011, Harvey starred in Jason Barrett's British feature film ''The Naked Poet'', playing Richard.

Television

Harvey has also appeared on reality TV shows '' The Games'' on

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commer ...

in 2003 (which he won) and several series of '' The Match'' on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

. He has also appeared on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'',

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

and has hosted the dance competition ''Bump 'n Grind'' on the youth cable channel Trouble and ''Footballers' Pads'' on

. In 2007, Harvey appeared on The Weakest Link ''Music Extravaganza Special'', and was the fourth contestant voted off. In 2008, he participated in

show '' Celebrity Come Dine with Me'', along with Jonathan Ansell, Tamara Beckwith and

Lynsey de Paul Lynsey de Paul (born Lyndsey Monckton Rubin; 11 June 1948 – 1 October 2014) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting ...

, finishing joint first with Ansell. In summer 2012 he was a contestant on '' Celebrity Big Brother 10'', Harvey made the final on 7 September 2012 Day 24 after never facing eviction during his entire stay within the Big Brother house. He was the first to leave the house on finale night finishing in 6th place.

Football

Harvey supports

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and has also been a non-league footballer. He has played for

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

. He was signed by the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side St Albans City in 2007 but left because of work commitments.

Personal life

Harvey married singer

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...

in June 2005. In November 2006, the couple split following Harvey's affair with singer

Javine Hylton Javine Dionne Hylton (born 27 December 1981), often known simply as Javine, is a retired English singer and songwriter. She gained recognition on ITV's '' Popstars: The Rivals'' and represented the UK at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Ky ...

. He would later star with Hylton in a West End version of '' Daddy Cool''. Hylton gave birth to their daughter, Angel Hylton Harvey, in February 2008. They later split up amid allegations of his infidelity. In August 2015, Harvey married dancer Ghamzeh Mahdizadeh after dating for five years. Their daughter Persia Love Mahdizadeh was born on 1 January 2016. It was reported in February 2016 that Harvey had left Mahdizadeh for

Elarica Johnson Elarica Johnson (or Gallacher; born 21 August 1989) is a British actress and model. On television, she is known for her roles in the Starz drama ''P-Valley'' (2020–2022) and the Sky Atlantic fantasy series ''A Discovery of Witches'' (2018). ...

just two weeks after their wedding. In April 2016, he was jailed for ten weeks for driving without a licence or insurance.

Discography

So Solid Crew

*'' They Don't Know'' (2001) *'' 2nd Verse'' (2003)

Solo albums

* ''Back to the Beginning'' (2008)

Filmography

Film

* ''

Out for a Kill ''Out for a Kill'' is a 2003 straight-to-video action film directed by Michael Oblowitz. It stars Steven Seagal. Plot Wong Dai (Chooi Kheng Beh), an influential Chinese drug kingpin, sits at a long table in an old building in Paris, going th ...

'' (2003) * '' The Big I Am'' (2010) * ''The Naked Poet'' (2011) * '' All things to all men'' (2012)

Television

Video games

* ''

FIFA Street ''FIFA'' was a Association football, football video game franchise developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. As of 2011, the ''FIFA'' franchise has been localized into 18 languages and available in 51 countries. Listed ...

'' (2005)

Theatre

* '' Daddy Cool'' by

Frank Farian Franz Reuther (18 July 1941 – 23 January 2024), known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the pop band No Mercy, and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequent ...

(2006) * ''The Brothers'' by Angie Le Mar (2008)

References

External links

Biography on BBC websiteDaddy Cool websiteBBC: So Solid Crew MC Harvey
* {{Authority control Living people 1979 births AFC Wimbledon players Aldershot Town F.C. players Men's association football defenders Black British male rappers English men's footballers English male film actors English male rappers English people of Jamaican descent English television presenters Lewes F.C. players Male actors from Plymouth, Devon Musicians from Plymouth, Devon So Solid Crew members St Albans City F.C. players UK garage musicians