Away from the exploitative end of the industry lies this Dalston-based project which gives artists from across hip-hop, jazz and soul a leg up – and shares the proceeds
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.