“These were my superheroes”: How the So Solid Crew inspired Daniel Kaluuya to greatness
It’s always fun to reply ‘I got 21 seconds to go’ whenever anyone asks you how much time you’ve got left for any task, be it microwaving a ready meal or being involved in a particularly energetic bout of lovemaking, a reference Daniel Kaluuya would certainly get and probably help you out with, as long as it’s not the last one.
That’s because the British actor is a big fan of the early noughties hip-hop group So Solid Crew, who were instrumental in changing the UK music scene when ‘21 Seconds’ hit the number one spot back in August 2001.
At that point, British rap was looked down upon, certainly in comparison to the music that had been coming across from the US for well over a decade, but the collective, featuring the likes of Lisa Maffia, MC Harvey and Asher D, made a massive mark.
Their debut album, They Don’t Know, went to number six in the charts and was certified platinum, selling well north of 300,00 copies, and Kaluuya, who was 12 at the time, recalled the effect it had on him as a young Black teenager from London, telling the NME, “Honestly, when I was coming up, it was all about Ashley Walters [Asher D]. Just because of what he represented and where he came from. He just spoke to me.”
Walters was one of the most successful members of the group after their initial fame, turning his attention to acting and getting cast in films like 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2005. He also led the gritty Netflix series Top Boy for five seasons across a span of 12 years. Most recently, he appeared in the Stephen Graham mega-hit Adolescence, which became the most-streamed show in Netflix history, picking up an Emmy award nomination for his performance.
Kaluuya, who has had a fairly monumental nine years or so since starring in his breakthrough role in Jordan Peele’s seminal horror Get Out, also told the NME about his brush with Walters, saying, “He was one of the only actors I’ve ever been star-struck by too. I remember I did a play with him at 19, and I was really nervous about what I might do and say when I walked into that room. He was So Solid, y’know? Megaman, Asher D, Skat D, Romeo, Lisa Maffia…these were my superheroes.”
However, the chances of people being starstruck by meeting Kaluuya have also massively increased now that he is one of the most in-demand British actors around, an Academy Award and Golden Globe winner thanks to his performance as the Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in 2021’s Judas and the Black Messiah.
He has been fairly quiet of late, though, not making a film since reuniting with Peele for 2022’s Nope, but that is about to change.
This week, he signed up for A24’s forthcoming thriller Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel and is also filming a movie written and directed by Chris Rock called Misty Green, co-starring Anna Kendrick, and meanwhile, Walters is set to appear in the joint venture from M Night Shyamalan and The Notebook’s Nicholas Sparks, titled Remain, which will hit cinemas in 2027, so all the best to both.
