On the folding chair: singer Jeangu Macrooy (1993). His new album was releasedlast week Summer Moon. An interview based on keywords: about his return tosoul, deviating from the monogamous norm and the pain of the Eurovisionbroccoli.
Stefan RaatgeverNovember 19, 202203:00
Paramaribo
“The first thing I think about is my family. My mother, father and aunts allstill live there. When I think of Suriname, I immediately see us eatingtogether. I was 20 when I left for the Netherlands. Every time I go back, thefeeling of home overwhelms me as soon as I step off the plane.”
“What I miss most is the relaxation. Life here in the Netherlands goes sofast. In Suriname it was normal to sleep for two hours after school. I wouldalso like to introduce that here.”
“Would I ever want to go back? Certainly not now, but maybe when I want toslow down a bit later in life. Then I could give something back in the fieldof art and education. I would like to help young people make their dreams cometrue. Because there is so much talent in Suriname, but not everyone gets thechance to develop it.”
Between Towers
“My first tire. Made up of my twin brother Xillan and me. A school friend cameup with the name when she walked between us and – we are both quite tall –looked up. Xillan and I discovered our passion for music at the same time, wegot our first guitar at the same time and had singing lessons together.”
“When we were 15 we wrote our first song together. ‘Well, then we’reofficially a duo now,’ we decided. We made an album and did quite a few gigs,but when I left for the Netherlands the band fell apart.”
“Of course Xillan didn’t like that very much, but after two years he also cameto the Netherlands and we were together again. He sang in my backing choiruntil this summer, but now focuses on his own music. And that is great.”
Hengelo
“My first place to live in the Netherlands! I had no idea what the country waslike. I was accepted at the Conservatory of Enschede, but really had the planto travel back and forth from Amsterdam every day. Fortunately, that wasquickly talked out of my mind. In Hengelo I was able to get a room withdistant relatives. Actually, I didn’t really live on my own yet. The laundrywas done and cooking was done. I had a wonderful time. I think Hengelo was agood choice. From quiet Paramaribo to Amsterdam would probably have been toomuch of a shock. And now it was a bit easier to keep my focus on my studies.”
Back to the roots
“That’s how you can describe my new album, yes. Summer Moon has become asoulful record. It actually happened naturally. I grew up with soul music andwith my voice you quickly get to the soul side. It felt nice to find that coreagain.”
“In the summer of 2021, for the first time in two years, my life no longerrevolved around the Eurovision Song Contest. It had been an intense period. Idon’t regret it, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to participate two years in arow.”
“There were still hardly any festival performances due to corona and Icertainly had no intention of writing new music, so it seemed to be a quietsummer. But it happened naturally. Summer Moon was the first song that cameinto existence, made together with my former fellow student Bud Kolk. Thatsounded so fresh that he also became producer of the album.”
World star
“I expressed that as an ambition, that’s right. I said that one day I wouldlike to fill stadiums like Beyoncé. My manager Pieter even predicted in 2019that this would be possible within five years. Well, then we have until 2024.”
“But I wouldn’t formulate such an intention like that now. I notice a changein myself. Not that I wouldn’t want to be successful on a global levelanymore, but setting those kinds of goals is mainly about the commercial side.I now want to work from the inside out more. How can I grow as an artist insuch a way that it gives me a large audience? The idea that I have yet to makemy best song is what drives me now.”
Monogamy
“One of the themes on the album. My first record High on You was full oflove. I was 22 and I got to know love. Now I know: the real work starts later.I have recently discovered for myself that monogamy is not an essentialcondition for a loving relationship. It is often thought that there are twooptions: monogamy or complete chaos. But I think there is also a nice middleground where you allow each other freedom, but remain respectful.”
“I know: monogamy is the norm. But cheating is something very different froman open relationship. It’s about being honest with each other. You can be verymuch in love with someone, but that doesn’t make you blind to the beauty ofothers, in my experience. Whether it works? For me so far, yes. But loveremains a quest. But that’s not a bad thing.”
Jordan
“I have lived here for a year now. Sebas and I are very happy. From the windowI can see the Westertoren where I once had my very first date. The city isincreasingly becoming part of my story.”
“The Westerdok, where we first sat, was super quiet, the tourists apparentlycouldn’t find that corner. Now we really have a dream place, in the middle ofthe city. Every week we go to a theater, concert hall or cinema at least once.We can walk everything, we don’t have a car or even bicycles. If we have to gofar away, we take the tram or train.”
Eurovision Song Contest
“Brought me a lot. I learned a lot and was able to increase my fame. Whereelse do you get the opportunity to be on such a big stage and see how aproduction works at that level? And I have received wonderful responses.Still, by the way. People who have Caribbean roots themselves really feltheard Birth of a New Age. ”
“But there were also downsides. I found it difficult that the message of mysong was also ridiculed. I still occasionally get “broccoli, broccoli” yelledat me on the street. Apparently many people didn’t want to muster the energyto understand why I read that line of text in Sranantongo ( Yu no man brokomi means ‘You can’t break me’) into my song.”
“That hurt me. It makes me feel ‘that other’ again for the first time in ages.The Netherlands has only recently started working on its colonial history, butapparently this was still too early in the process.”
23rd
“I was a bit surprised how much people value such a ranking. For me, thefeeling after the final was: ‘I participated, gave everything and now I’mmoving on’, but people apparently think very much in terms of winners andlosers. I didn’t feel like a loser at all, I was proud of what we put up.Sure, you also have to ask yourself why the performance didn’t catch on withthe general public, but I didn’t see that 23rd place as a value judgment aboutme as an artist.”
Cassette tape
“As a little boy I listened to nothing but cassette tapes. The entire oeuvreof Sesame Street came over and over again. And my mom had Whitney Houston,Celine Dion and Cher standing up in the car.”
“We had a hundred cassette tapes made of the new album. In an earlier plan wealso wanted to offer a real Walkman. Didn’t go through though. The sound ofsuch a walkman of 20 euros is simply not good enough. But I am happy that myalbum can now also be listened to in this way.”
“And I’m not the only one releasing cassette tapes again, am I? The latestalbums by Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are also back on cassette.”
Celebrity Master Chef
“I’m out! Making macarons, at the same time as a parfait, turned out to be myend. ‘Below par’, the jury found. With that patisserie you have to be veryprecise, the sugar at the right temperature, work very precisely. Andeverything in a very short time.”
“I really love eating together and I can cook quite well, but the level wasreally high. Freddy from the Youth of Today, for example, is really very good.Entering that cooking contest on Viaplay is the most stressful thing I’ve everdone. The Eurovision Song Contest is one walk in the park compared to that