William Souvenir hails from Surinam, a former Dutch colony nearGuyana. Kaseko is Surinam's dominant music style. But William is anartist most knows for his French merengue compositions, a style betterknown internationally as zouk or k-dance. He is one of only a fewSurinam artists who has mastered this style of music. William Souveniris a marron: half Aucan, half Saramaccan (both are ethnic groups thatform part of the Surinam community) and grew up in the area aroundParamaribo, the capital city. William thought himself to play guitarand begin his career in several kaseko groups, playing mostly calypsos.

In the '70's, he often crossed the border with French Guyana to seebands perform and it was here that he discovered the French merenguestyle. At the end of the '70's, William moved to the Netherlands andplayed (amongst other bands) with Mighty Botai's band, one of Surinammost famous calypso singers. It was Botai who convinced William topursue a career of his own in the early '80's William scored two hits.