Reading Valiant - BreakOut Dancehall artiste 2022 by 
and him questioning why musicians choose to write songs with a negative message or why those songs are doing way better than other tunes, it reminded me of a talented Surinamese writer and artist known as Papa Touwtjie.
And I'm not saying that Papa Touwtjie's - born as John Touwslager (21 December 1968 - 9 June 2005) - songs are inherently a bad influence, but his lyrics definitely got the pot "stirring" here in Suriname, especially during the years I came into contact with his music in the mid 1990's.
To understand his songs - mainly written in Sranan Tongo with reggae and dancehall influences - is to know a bit of where he came from. Touwtjie grew up in the streets of Paramaribo (capital city) and mixed with a wrong crowd, which resulted in his arrest. In prison he encountered Reggae and Dancehall music and after his release Touwtjie devoted himself to making music.
Commandant with it's catchy phrase "...Bram Bram Bram, Bos Commandant..." was one of the first songs I heard and was told (I didn't understand much Sranan Tongo at that age) that it had a "bad" - rather violent - message, because of Touwtjie rapping about his disdain and bitterness towards the police (commandant). Because of negligence by policemen, after a gunshot on his leg his limb had to be amputated.
On the one hand I understand the critique regarding the violent text towards the police force, but when one listens closely to Papa Touwtjie he's also asking the commandant why they're shooting at the poor people's children - and the innocent - and why they're abusing their power with gun in hand.
Another point of contention towards Papa Touwtjie's music - especially Miss Bigi Poeni (translated: miss mega poenani) - were his sexual explicit lyrics, that were criticized by especially the religious communities in Suriname. That I was attending a religious school, contributed to my aversion towards Touwtjie's songs. But now that I'm able to understand the texts, I can appreciate some of his songs like Miss Bangarang (literally: miss whore).
On the one hand Touwtjie's calling the women "hoes", but on the other he's singing them praise by stating that women (before Beyonce did) "drai a matta" (loosely translated: are running the world) and that they're "tranga moro deng" (loosely translated: stronger than the rest), so no one can break them.
Sontin (loosely translated: some days) is on a whole other level though, in which the vibe is more positive and uplifting. Touwtjie sings about on some days "ie wan' bari" (loosely translated: one wants to scream), some days feeling like being drained and having no blessings and about surviving. But one must "tranga yu'm, tranga yu srefi" (loosely translated: keep oneself strong) and that "a bribi no mus' lasi" (loosely translated: the faith must be kept), because there's a God above looking after us. The Most High will guide us through it all.
And those were just three songs from Papa Touwtjie, who launched way more songs about poverty, his bitterness towards the police and his aversion against corruption. From his collection there were also other more positive songs in which he stressed the importance of the different people's coming together and working towards developing Suriname. What are your thoughts about Papa Touwtjie and would you like to hear and learn more about his music? Let me know in the comments below 🤓.
