Biography
William Souvenir fuses salsa rhythms drawn from Latin America with Caribbean calypso and African indigenous traditions, among them the French-tinged variant known as zouk, yielding an irresistibly danceable sound. Though delivered in a linguistic blend of Aucan, Saramaccan, Sranang, and Tongo, his lyrics still communicate themes of political struggles, personal experiences, and romance. Born in Surinam, the Dutch colony bordering Guyana, he spent his formative years near the capital, Paramaribo. A guitarist without formal training, he performed with multiple calypso ensembles before relocating to the Netherlands at the close of the 1970s. After appearing with Dutch calypso singer Mighty Botai’s band, he pursued an independent path beginning in the early 1980s. His self-produced debut, A Tin Tele, appeared in 1990, with the follow-up, Na 'f Mi 'Wang, arriving two years afterward.