Patrice, who was born in the Rhineland, now lives mainly in Berlin, but has not yet completely warmed up to the city. “I’m more rooted in the Cologne area – I prefer it,” the musician told dpa. In Berlin there is “a lot of talk and I don’t know if there is always that much substance.”
“Berlin is more of an idea. I don’t know if Berlin is a real city in that sense,” added Patrice. “Everyone just moves there and lives their Berlin dream there. They are suddenly completely different than they were when they came from their suburbs. They dress differently, talk differently. There are definitely a lot of fakers there.”
When he meets people from North Rhine-Westphalia in Berlin, it often goes like this: “Ah nice, finally we can talk normally again, we can have a conversation,” said Patrice. Nevertheless, Berlin also has its advantages, says the singer.
Patrice was born in Cologne and grew up in Kerpen – according to him, in a very old, established community. The whole street knows him, the neighbor has already babysat his mother, and his cousin lives two houses away, Patrice said. “That means moving to Berlin is only possible to a limited extent.”
In any case, Patrice is more of a cosmopolitan. Many songs on his new album “9”, which will be released on Friday (November 3rd), were created during his time in Jamaica and were recorded in Senegal. “I obviously like the fact that we live in a time where that’s possible – especially if you have the right passport,” he said. He would like everyone to have a passport that allows this and to be able to live in different places.
