We go dancing with the aspiring DJ duo NXN in Kreuzberg and ÂFriedrichshain. Finally, a decent, fun assignment, thought our author.
According to Google, NXN is currently one of the most exciting and sought-after acts in Germany. The DJ duo, consisting of Nadia and Natalie, have created a special style of music, a unique mixture of House, Tech House, Afro House, Melodic Techno and Progressive House. I’m not really familiar with these genres of music, but what the heck, every new era needs its own musical style. When I was a young DJ haunting Germany’s clubs with my Russendisko dance party, the guests responded enthusiastically to my ska punk sounds, rushing the dance floor in droves. My wife, who was often at my side on these dance evenings, actually preferred French chanson, while my DJ partner often put on art rock and Balkan beats. At some point I came to the conclusion that the music at a party is actually of secondary importance. The more important thing is the DJ’s personality. If the DJ behind the turntable knows how to connect with the crowd, then he’ll always put on a good show. The equipment at the club broke down a few times, but people stayed on the dance floor and kept on dancing.
The music was playing in their heads. What is music anyway? Actually, you could put on a good disco without any music at all. Today, everyone has their favorite music on their smartphones and can play it in the kitchen, in the car, wherever they want. But at a party? Music is more accessible today than ever before, which only serves to enhance the DJ’s role as an entertainer. To be fair, I have to say that Natalie and Nadia could also host a party in a car. And how!
I wasn’t surprised that they are so successful, they proved to be great entertainers. They both just moved to Berlin and raved about the city, which is reviled and scorned by so many.
I constantly have to listen to newcomers to Berlin complain about the city, that it’s dirty, far too dirty for the famous German sense of cleanliness, that there is too much garbage on the streets. I don’t usually say anything, I keep politely quiet. Yes, there is a lot of garbage on Berlin’s streets, but that’s a consequence of people separating their waste, if you ask me. Berliners always know which garbage belongs in which street.
All my hipster neighbors in Prenzlauer Berg are really serious about separating their waste, we now have not two, not three, but four differently colored garbage cans in the yard. They are good people, they believe they can save the world, even if the world refuses to be saved. Can waste separation save the world? We don’t know, but we can try. I recently saw a cartoon of a middle-aged man standing in a courtyard with his garbage neatly separated into four different bags, looking at the horizon where a huge mushroom cloud is spreading. “So it was all for nothing after all,” he says.
Berliners love their garbage, it’s an important part of the city’s image, a Gesamtkunstwerk. Some art is garbage, in Berlin garbage becomes art. There was an incident here recently that the local press reported on with relish. After an opening at an art gallery, a cleaning lady threw away several of the artworks, made of hoses and metal, because she thought it was garbage that had been left behind by the guests. Though she could just as easily have taken the stuff to a museum. There’s a popular garbage museum in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. Works of art made from local garbage are on display at this museum, imaginative objects such as kebabs made from modelling clay, electronic waste sculptures and a wooden shack plastered beyond recognition with posters. Visitors come from the surrounding area, but also from Japan, Italy, South Africa and Ukraine, the museum director says. Some of these people want to marvel at Berlin’s garbage, others are just looking for a place to get rid of trash of their own.
Berlin has always known how to market itself. Once we were “poor but sexy”, then a “party city”, a “stoner’s paradise”, a club where the music plays around the clock.
This constant and tongue-in-cheek image change leads to increased creativity among the population. A lot of Berliners shine with creativity at dusk, which is good for the city because it doesn’t have any no money for Christmas lights.
The fact that the city has no money for its Christmas lights is the talk of the town every year starting in the fall. And every year, the newspapers write about how it will be a dark Christmas again. The mayor then has to explain the dire state of the budget. Where did all the money from the city coffers go? Poof, and it was gone!
But then, just before Christmas, something surprising happens every time. The mayor suddenly finds the money after all, or some company steps in as a sponsor, or a rich Berlin widow chokes on a kebab and bequeaths all her money to the city for the Christmas lights – and suddenly Berlin lights up as outrageously lavish as if it were Vienna. And the Berliners say: “What a shame. We were hoping to spend a little time in the dark and not see anyone.” Berliners are always complaining. Dissatisfaction is the most common form of social coexistence here. And Berliners have to suffer for it. Allegedly, there is an invisible Santa Claus on the loose in Berlin and everyone receives an unexpected gift from him at the end of the year, something he or she didn’t even want.
What is the secret of this city, why do new people come to Berlin every day despite all the negativity? Artists in particular like it here, they hope to find fame, fun and ten million followers. When I asked Nadia and Natalie why they love Berlin so much, Natalie said they had always wanted to live and party in a city of ten million people. Finally a city of ten million! she said. I didn’t want to be a spoilsport, but I doubted that number. Oh no, I said, there are no cities that big in Germany. Berlin currently has just under four million inhabitants. That sounded disappointing.
They didn’t want to believe me. I’m going to google that, said Nadia. Young people’s trust in the all-knowing Internet is enviable. I wouldn’t have relied on Google for this question. The truth is that nobody knows how many inhabitants this city really has.
Yes, Berlin always looks bigger than it actually is. The question is how you can even conduct a census here. How can you add up all these chaotic people roaming the city at night? The census only uses the data from the population registers, and many people who live here remain unregistered their whole lives, while others immediately register and re-register every time they have a new girlfriend.
In addition to the population register, something like a random household survey is carried out here from time to time. But many Berliners sleep during the day or aren’t at home when these census-takers come. Others owe people money and simply don’t answer the door when someone comes knocking unannounced. So it’s quite possible that you can actually meet ten million people here, especially when it gets dark.
In any case, this city looks bigger at night.
We met NXN in a recording studio in Kreuzberg near Görlitzer Park, in a street decorated with graffiti beyond recognition. Here you can see Berlin in all its urban beauty. You can tell that all the inhabitants are bilingual and all the houses were a different color yesterday. Thanks to the graffiti artists, the houses in Kreuzberg never stay the same. How do the residents find their way home, I wondered. You have to have a good sense of direction not to get lost here, you go out of a pink-colored house in the morning and come back to a green one at night.
Nadia and Natalie were in a great mood and raved about how much they loved Berlin.
From Kreuzberg, we drove to the Lighthouse at the Reichbahnausbesserungswerk (RAW) to go dancing, a unique venue in Friedrichshain where the parties never end – as soon as one DJ stops, the next one starts playing somewhere around the corner. We had dinner in the trendy restaurant there and the panorama bar was lit up by the city lights.
And the food? It was not identical to what was on the menu, you always get something better than you ordered. The food was brought to our table on a scooter decorated with a foxtail. Nadia and Natalie danced the whole time and it felt like ten million people were watching, this city can be as obscure and amorphous as a cloud.
The DJ duo NXN was formed in 2022 by Nadia and Natalie, who had previously enjoyed success as solo artists. The two have been inspiring the dance scene with their blend of House, Tech House, Afro House, Melodic Techno and Progressive House ever since. Nadia and Natalie are committed to inclusion and acceptance in their performances so that all social classes can have access to their music. Both women currently live in Berlin.
Text: Wladimir Kaminer
Photos: Oliver Gast
Concept: Cedric Pfaus
Production: Joana Mößmer, Victoria Nguyen
Videographer: Arne Schramm
rampstyle #33 When You Know, You Know
Knowledge makes all the difference. Sound knowledge not only gives us a solid foundation from which to navigate the world, it also inspires new ideas. Knowledge has impact. At the very least, it’s stimulating. Because, having become curious, we immerse ourselves in a topic, explore what it all really means. Find out more
