BONE SLIM
rapper. marine biologist.
Bone Slim (also known as Phantom / Bone / Slim/ Shark) is a musician from Greater London. He is one of the originating songwriters of NiNE8 Collective and the voice of audio-visual group HOTR.
Known for his ivory domino masked performances and complex rhymes, critics have described his work as "UK rap and hip hop blending the established sound of noughties boombap with a modern transatlantic twist."
Bone Slim is also recognised for his fusion of British rap with UK dance subgenres such as liquid DnB and UKG - firmly establishing his ability to rap over these genres in his 2021 collaborative EP "Danse Macabre" and "Tokyo Drift" mixtape with acclaimed DnB producer Dutta.
Bone Slim started building up an underground fanbase over the mid 2010s after releasing various collaborations on Soundcloud under different pseudonyms (such as Phantom Bonehead and OG slim) however amalgamated the many alter egos all under "Bone Slim" by releasing 2019 official project BoneChilledMilk in partnership with long time collaborator Dropped Milk. The project launched with a cinematic double visual release - grabbing attention from a wider cult audience.
This was followed up by his second official EP "ifiwas2015" (2019) which in, Bone Slim's words, was "a concept project set in 2015, almost functioning as a prequel in an era that he had a variety of coming of age experiences and memories. It’s set in the wild west of the Soundcloud era where I would try to make any song not just hip hop. I wanted to make it like a polished product but if I set myself mentally back to that 2014-2015 period when I’d write. In terms of moving forward this is like a narrative step backwards to give context to who I am."
The project notably shifts his soundscapes from the classic boombap sample style instrumentals that he established in his debut to more alternative sounds - yet still keeping the common theme of "compelling story-telling and no holds barred style of rap."
As a core songwriter in NiNE8, Bone also heavily features on collective releases such as the NO SMOKE trilogy, whist collaborating with other production projects such as Kurisu and MoonTownProject with his 2020 releases.