humble heroes | xillan | slave

Session with Surinamese-Dutch singer songwriter, musician and storyteller Xillan Macrooy aka XILLAN. Xillan was born and raised in Suriname and moved to the Netherlands in his early twenties. Xillan is known for his curiosity, wide raging interests and eclectic influences when it comes to music and his identity as an artist. His style is described as alternative R&B that is daring in its intimacy. He started writing his own music when he was 14 years old. He started writing because he needed an outlet for all the thoughts and ideas he had. His writing process went through different phases, from more darker times and more melancholic music to more lightness and brightness in his music. Both worlds are still combined since he uses all these facets of life in his songwriting. He has an eclectic taste which comes together when he makes music and writes songs. He is inspired by artists such as Frank Ocean, Solange, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish and the list is endless since he grew up with different musical styles from African, Indian, Indonesian music to American, European, Caribbean influences, both from his mothers and fathers side. In 2020 Xillan graduated cumlaude from the Conservatory of Amsterdam and directly continued with a master at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He is now focusing on his musical projects KOWNU and XILLAN. He released his debut EP Crowning Gods with his project XILLAN in 2022. We hope you enjoy his session! Music by Xillan Macrooy – Lead Vocal Julian Bohn – Synthesizer Mats Dekkers – Guitar and Synths Adriaan Stoop – Drums Recorded on April 17, 2023 humble heroes © is a production of Dutch Performers House at Exalto Studio’s Haarlem Executive producer: Corine Haitjema Production: Daniela Solano Sound: Bart Wagemakers Video: Pieter Hoogland, Marieke Schoenmakers, Rens Beks Follow us on: http://www.instagram.com/humbleheroes_nl http://www.facebook.com/humbleheroesNL Subscribe to our podcast here: http://bit.ly/humbleheroespodcasts