“I think that as a very small boy I wanted to ‘decorate’ people with words. And when I got older, people told me to do something with them. For me, Papa Touwtjie, because of the way he could produce words rhymed together, was a source of inspiration,” says Arnoando Denz, better known under the artist name Cool D. He combines his musical career with his work as a firefighter at the Johan Adolf Pengel airport. What started as a hobby has now grown into a creative outlet, and he now has two video clips to his name, in addition to other songs. The special thing about this artist is that he presents his lyrics on beautiful, appropriate music, supplemented with singing. On Friday, June 26, the artist will be at restaurant Lien and Wimduring a live session, showcasing his talent.
Text Tascha Aveloo
Image Collection Promarman
Own productions
Promarman and Eljea Management are behind this live session. “The idea for this fourth ‘live session’ arose when MC Dust and I were talking in the Makandi bar. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that Surinamese artists often did not incorporate good audio into their video.” The two then started thinking and searching online to see how it was done elsewhere. “And then we came up with the concept of professionally recording an artist’s performance (live): audio and video clip.” Promarman calls it essential that the artist must have his own music. “We are not going to record existing things. Your own music determines whether the organization chooses to place you in a live session. You must have enough in your repertoire to be able to play a show.”
Arnoando Denz
Promarman calls such a session an ideal opportunity for people to get to know the artist in his music, presentation and creativity. So the last two live sessions were Massage Band Injection and Bottyman. “Every time we see each other there is growth.” The promoter states that the live sessions are not only for new and emerging artists, but also for already established artists. “But they had a dream to do a certain performance and have it recorded in a professional way. We then draw up the repertoire together and develop the show.”
Exhaust valve
Denz: “For me it was looking for an outlet fu kowru mi ati. I have been investigating what calms me down from the storms of life.” Denz was raised strictly by his parents in Hannaslust. “But I’m grateful for that because they just wanted us to do well in later life.” And his life has also had ups and downs, such as a major car accident in October 2002. “I was on a moped with my now ex-girlfriend and we were hit by a bus. I knew nothing about myself. I was immediately in a coma. But Gado bigiI’m still here.” The artist says that he cannot remember anything about the accident. He is grateful to God that he recovered without permanent damage. “I couldn’t talk, I had to learn it again and I stayed in the Netherlands for eight months for eventual recovery after they found a growth in my trachea and I had a severe tracheal infection.”
Words have power
There are two of his songs on YouTube. ‘A tori fu na ley’, which he presents with singer Buörn Maynard and ‘Problema’. Together they previously released the song, produced by Claudio MackNack, and the video by Melvin Stoffel. “Problema is a profound and spiritual song that came during a difficult time in my life and that I wrote eight years ago, after the accident, for self-expression and comfort. But now is the time to share it with the rest of the world. Many people have problems and people should take hope from it to know that there will always be problems but also that a better time will always come.”
‘Words have power. And you never know where and when you will touch someone with your music, at a time when it is needed and they experience reinforcement and hope.’
The message behind ‘A tori fu na ley’ is about honesty and emotional truth. According to Denz, he is not someone who sits and worries, but thinks about solutions and believes that the problem should still find a place. And for him that is writing lyrics. “Words have power. And you never know where and when you will touch someone with your music, at a time when it is needed and they experience reinforcement and hope.” Promarman says that the audience will get to know a special artist who can touch a nerve and who will make people think.
