Patricia Baloge is an Afrohouse / House DJ from Montpellier, France who is now based in Brooklyn, New York.
Hailing from Ghana, growing up in Montpellier, France and currently Brooklyn based – Baloge has been exposed to a variety of musical genres, including Dancehall, Rai, Variete Francaise, Dombolo, Pop, RnB, Electro and Hip hop. The vocalist and producer’s bona fide passion for Afrohouse has inspired her to embark on a musical journey that infuses a plethora of musical stylings and genres into one cohesive blend. With her ‘Mood Mix’ series garnering a solid online following, Patricia believes “we’re here to put every possible expression of ourselves out in the world”.
We sit down with Patricia Baloge to speak about her debut single – Desire, and plans for 2019. Read on!
T.H.E – Hey Patricia! Welcome to T.H.E – Music Essentials. What have you been up to?
Patricia Baloge – Hey! Thank you for having me! I’ve been working on more music. :)
T.H.E – Your debut single just came out – Desire. How long was it in the works, and what made you finally decide to release it?
Patricia Baloge – ‘Desire’ has been in the works since the beginning of the year, in January to be more precise. I decided to release it because I had been wanting to release my debut track since forever and it felt like this was the right time to do so.
T.H.E – You have been exposed to so many genres. What kind of sounds do you intend to follow?
Patricia Baloge – When it comes to my original music it can be hard for me to put it in a category. I just want to make what speaks to me at the moment without boxing myself into a specific genre. I enjoy mixing different elements from distinct genre to create something new. This time it had some afro-house influence with some afro-pop but it could be something completely in the future. I’d say get ready to be surprised!
T.H.E – How has the fact that you hail from Ghana, were brought up Montpellier, France and currently stay in Brooklyn, contribute to you as an artist? Do these various cultures ever impact your ideas, the kind of vibe you want to imbibe and the kind of influences and inspirations you follow?
Patricia Baloge – Cultures are powerful. And being brought up in multicultural environments has definitely had a strong mark on me. Growing up listening to French Hip-hop, Rnb, and Pop for hours, then all of a sudden switching to Ghanaian Highlife has indeed made my musical landscape-wide enough to never run out of inspiration. I also believe that languages are powerful, and having the ability to bring English, French, and Twi (Ghanaian Dialect) into my music is a plus. I like to say that my personality shines differently when I embody my French side, American side or Ghanaian side. With music, I get to simply blend all of them and make them one if I feel like it.
T.H.E – How did you decide to become a musician? Were there any artists that inspired you when you were growing up?
Patricia Baloge – I’ve always wanted to be a musician, but I took the plunge with DJing at the end of 2017 when I realized that without music in my life, I wouldn’t be able to grow into the person I always knew myself to be. Growing up in the 90’s I was inspired by so many strong artists like Madonna, Cindy Lauper, Deniece Williams, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Micheal Jackson who’s music struck me in the most profound way. I was also exposed to artists like Lucky Dubi, UB40, Brenda Fassie (South Africa), Kojo Antwi (Ghana), and many many more who had a tremendous mark on me.
T.H.E – Which DAW do you prefer working with, and how do you go about producing a track like which part do you start with first?
Patricia Baloge – I prefer to work with Logic Pro X. The part I usually start with are the drums, kick, percussion, which tend to give me inspiration for my vocals and the lyrics then I build up from there.
T.H.E – What are your plans for the rest of 2019, in terms of touring and production??
Patricia Baloge – My plans are to DJ more, and create more music. I’m currently working on the next track that should be out before the end of this year so I’m excited about that.
