Surinamese-Dutch rapper Def Rhymz dies at age 53

Rapper Def Rhymz has died at the age of 53, his former record label Top Notch reported. Friends and colleagues also responded on social media to the death of Dennis Bouman, the musician’s given name. The label did not reveal a cause of death, but the Surinamese-Dutch rapper was known to have heart problems.

In a podcast late last year, Def Rhymz said that he was waiting for a donor heart. He had already undergone several surgeries because the mitral valve connecting the upper and lower chambers on the left side of his left heart was not functioning.

Bouman was born in Suriname in 1970, and he moved to the Netherlands with his family around the age of three. He started rapping in the 1980s, first in English and Dutch and later exclusively in Dutch. He was also in a reggae band.

Def Rhymz was particularly popular around the turn of the century. His first hit was “Doekoe” in 1999. The song rose to number one on the Top 4 inside of a week. His biggest hit was “Schudden,” a bubbly remix of DJ Jean’s song “Love Come Home.”

Several colleagues responded to his death. “This one hits hard,” rapper MCBrainpower wrote on X.

“Met you somewhere in the early 90s. And later we almost continuously bumped into each other on the road for over 25 years and hung out regularly. Rest in peace, Def.”