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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Emma Russell

‘A proper family vibe’: the Silhouettes Project, Hackney’s fiercely indie music community

Dalston London Spotify United Kingdom
Natty Wylah performing in a Silhouettes Project showcase at the Jazz Cafe, London, April 2022.
Natty Wylah performing in a Silhouettes Project showcase at the Jazz Cafe, London, April 2022. Photograph: Caitlin Molloy

On a Friday evening in June 2021, saxophonist Alabaster dePlume heard the silky vocals of Karl Benjamin and Elisa Imperilee seeping through the walls of Root73’s recording studio in the Total Refreshment Centre in Dalston, London. Inspired, he grabbed his instrument and improvised a spectacular melody for their new track in one take. “He added magic and then fucked off,” says Jaden Osei-Bonsu (AKA Eerf Evil), who co-founded the Silhouettes Project with Asher Korner (AKA Kosher) for moments like these.

With live events and a debut album in 2020 that united more than 30 rappers, singers and producers, the Silhouettes Project is acting as a loudhailer for hip-hop, jazz, soul and R&B artists who might be ignored by streaming services and arts funding bodies. Some of them, such as the witty and conversational rapper Enny, have broken into the mainstream.

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