Labrinth: I’m coming out of the chaos of 2025. And I’m feeling positive about what’s to come. 

I think what I mean by “what’s coming” has more to do with my perception, my perspective of it. The way I’m looking at life now is different, and that leaves space for things to feel fresh, new, and exciting. I feel like my eyes are more open to seeing those things than they were last year.

I come from a very musical family. Everyone has some kind of talent, and even if they’re not in the music industry, everyone can sing or play an instrument or something like that. So, music was always around me as a kid. I was really into art back then and wanted to make comics. I used to invent stories, and somehow music just pulled me in that direction. I think I’ve been obsessed ever since, maybe since I was around ten.

Since I had kids, they got me right back into it.

One half of it is that I love school music and I love film music, and I wanted to use that sound in an album. That was the playful five-year-old child in me wanting to play with toys and have fun. The other side of it was that I was going through the process of developing as a father, as a person, as a human, and the music, especially the lyrical content, was very much about that process.

My personal favorite is a song called Running A Red. There’s a band called Booker T. and the M.G.’s, and they really inspired the overall vibe of that track. As for a fan favorite, I honestly don’t know. I didn’t really care on this album in that sense. I wasn’t trying to give anyone choruses or hooks or any of that. I was just like, I’m going to make whatever is in my head. I’m sure some people might be like, ‘what the hell is this?‘But I felt like I just had to do it.

Oh, I appreciate that. I feel like we’re in a new age. And by that, I mean I love the idea of artists, creatives, or anyone really trying to find and express things that aren’t just culturally inspired. A lot of that is basically peer pressure. Creative work driven by peer pressure often ends up being about writing what people expect you to write.

My process is absolute insanity, total madness. My wife is always like, Babe, do we have to do this every single time? At first, I was like, babe, maybe I’m bipolar. And she said, You’re not bipolar, you’re just an artist. You go through doubt, you go through excitement, and you go through all these emotions while creating a record or even just one song. You literally lose your mind and then you kind of gain it back again. It’s kind of like having a baby. That’s probably the worst thing I could say and I’m going to get slaughtered for it, but it really feels like that. [laughs]

You’d probably think I’m nuts. I talk to myself, I talk to people who aren’t there. I talk to the inspiration I’m getting. It’s like I’m looking into this sphere of ideas and they’re kind of talking to me. I literally look completely nuts, but that’s kind of the method of the madness.

The Problem has been around forever. A big part of it is that artists are constantly walking a tightrope between business and creativity. Business manages product, art manages creativity. Between those two languages, artists can lose themselves. If you’re treated like a product, like a Coca-Cola can filled with emotion, trouble is almost inevitable.

You know what I mean? In business it’s like, if something’s off or past its sell-by date, you just throw it away. But I’m a person.

I think you have to see reality for what it is and respect it as such. Like I said, I’m a very dreamy person. I live in otherworldliness, and sometimes I project my own ideals and perspective onto the world.
But the world is reality. You can put out a song and maybe no one’s going to care, and that’s okay. That’s part of the process. The moment you accept a reality beyond your own, you can find more peace.

I guess the first song that comes to mind is a single I released called Implosion. It came from that feeling as an artist when you have success and it’s really easy to get attached to what it was and what it meant. And then you want to replicate it. It kind of wakes up the toddler in you, the little cute child everyone tells, “You look so beautiful, do that thing again.” You really have to break away from that need for praise, for excitement, for people to care about what you’re doing, and repair your relationship with yourself and your creativity.

Implosion was kind of about that for me, losing your mind a little, not to kill your old ego but to quiet it. It’s like saying, “It’s not about me. It’s about what we have to contribute to the world, what we can take away from it.” That was a demon for me because I felt like I needed success, I needed validation for what I was doing. And if that flips a little, or someone isn’t talking about you as much as you want, you start asking yourself, “Am I walking into the studio just to get someone to talk about me?” That’s when you know you’re lost.

Another one was Still In Love With The Pain. That song is basically about being addicted to the industry, addicted to success, and not just success but things like Instagram. I would say it’s the devil. It’s ruining communities, connectivity, and creativity. And yet I was the same guy online, checking how many likes I got on a picture. It’s like a drug addict having an opinion about their own addiction. That was a demon for me, caring so much about something I knew was pretty toxic for me and my peers.

You know what’s beautiful? You can almost learn to enjoy the other side of life. That wouldn’t bother me. I’ve already kind of gotten over the hurdle of a challenging audience. But some of it is more the feeling of silence. It’s like tear gas, slowly creeping in before you even notice it. You’re breathing in this intoxicating energy of success, of being connected to a celebrity, or being a celebrity. Those things can almost become more important than what you wanted to contribute as a creative. For me, the most sacred thing is remembering what you want to contribute, not what you want to take from the world.

Yeah, and that’s why I made Still In Love With The Pain. I’m still coming back to the same thing. I see how it’s ruining me and my peers, but we’re all still in it, obsessed with it, and still trying to find ways to be valuable in it.

You never really know. You just have to shut your mouth and let it go. Have someone literally pull it out of your hands. I’ve had millions of deadlines. It’s always good to have someone around to say, that’s enough, just take it and stop.

By the end, you can hate it. You can be like, this is terrible. Or you can go full circle, where you think, I really hate this, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done, this is horrendous. And then you get to a place where you can appreciate the process you went through. It’s almost like a photo album of the last two years. You see yourself with no makeup, all the little moments, and once you have some time, you can listen back and value the journey. It’s like your old skin. Most people don’t want to put that old skin back on, but it’s part of the process.

Get lost and get found. You cannot control it. No one can control this experience of living. You are going to be an asshole one day. You are going to think you are the world’s gift to everyone. You will have a Jesus complex. And then there will be a moment where you wake up and realize it is not about you. It is bigger than you.
At the end, it becomes very simple. I want to do what I came here to do, what I love. But you have to go through the chaos to find the person you are going to become.

Why am I here? I am not supposed to know why I am here. I am supposed to know how I am meant to contribute. If I asked a cat why it is here, it would just say, I am a cat. I do what a cat does. And maybe, in the grand scheme of things, when you look at the ecosystem, you suddenly see why that matters. You see its value in the bigger picture. Hopefully, I am just a speck of paint in the grand painting.

No. Anyone who believes they have a higher meaning than anyone else is trash. I believe that even the janitor who spoke to me after school, when I was leaving the studio, or the teacher that was going through depression, is part of the journey.

If you remove all the notes from a symphony nobody cares about, you are left with one single note. And it is not as powerful. There is no symphony without every note. Even the ones that think they are insignificant. To me, they are all important.

If I have to go through that shit again… [laughs]

For a long time, I was genuinely torn between architecture and acting. Then I went to Paris and looked through the curricula of architecture programs, and I got a little bored because so much of it was already familiar to me. Acting felt a bit intimidating, to be honest. And then I drifted into fashion because it had always fascinated me, yet it was the one area where I knew nothing.

I don’t have a story about my grandmother always sewing with me. In fact, I couldn’t sew, and I really hated it. But I wanted to learn. When I started my bachelor’s, I thought I should at least see it through. After that, I did an internship with Haider Ackermann, and that’s when I thought, okay, this could actually work. Honestly, it was a bit of a struggle to find my commitment.

BORIS BECKER Not really. In the morning I need peace. No noise, no nasty phone call. But a hot shower, an espresso, and half an hour to myself

BB It depends on what stage in your career you are. At the beginning, it’s actually not that dramatic. You have to find your limits and cross them. That can hurt on the next day. When you are 25 years old, you can deal with it; after 40, my body changed and the real trouble started: knees, ankles, hips, etc. A simple massage won’t do if you are at that point. Unfortunately, that’s the price you pay.

BB You are so flushed with adrenaline and endorphins that you don’t even notice. And you need a good technique. You have to know how to fall – and to quickly get up to play the next ball.

BB You have to score, no matter what it looks like. You can’t think of your audience when you are fighting on the court.

BB No way. You have to reach the ball and win the game. If you have a hand break, you are doing the wrong job.

BB He has to understand the mind of the athlete. That requires experience, sensibility, maybe a certain age. Every player is different, feels differently,
plays differently. You have to give it time. Only under pressure do you see the strong and the weak points of a player.

BB It is not about you anymore, and that is a challenge. After my active career, I took some time to mature to be able to take care of other players.

BB No. That’s who I am. I can’t change that and I would not want to. And my player expects me to be fully committed. A lot of athletes give up too
early and don’t finish the game wholeheartedly when they are facing adversities. I’ve always tried to fight until the very end because you never know – when your opponent is serving for match, he might get nervous. I have experienced that. A match is not over until the referee says: “Game, set and
match – Becker.” Hopefully.

BB I usually don’t watch my old matches, unless a player wants to see how I used to play. I live in the now and think about the future, but don’t forget about my past.

BB None, really. But there are a few players with similar attitudes and mentality. For example, Jannik Sinner, not only because of the red hair, but
also his coolness under pressure. The wildness and unpredictability of Holger Rune. The marathon-man mentality of Sasha Zverev.

BB Oh, yes. It’s still the love of my professional life, but I’m happy I don’t have to run so much anymore.

seems to be more physical, focus is more on the groundstrokes, baseline game, and not so much on the serve-volley. Players seem to be spending
more time in the gym than on the tennis court to get in shape. I don’t know if match strategy and game plan is still as important. In general, I don’t
like to compare generations because we played with different/heavier rackets and quicker balls, and certainly our tennis shoes weren’t as good as
those today. Let me ask you a question: If they all would have played with the same materials, what would Laver, Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Wilander,
Edberg, Becker, Sampras and Agassi do against Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev? Nobody will ever know.

BB I am surprised that so many players show their private and professional life online. It feels like they have to tell the world constantly what they are eating and how they practice. There are few examples of players who are more careful with their use of social media. For me, the best example is Sinner. You just don’t know what he is doing when he is not on the tennis court.

BB I didn’t really have a choice since Germany had completely embraced me to the point of suffocation. The first couple of years were very enjoyable;
I was actually flattered by the love of the country. Eventually, it became too much and I’m still paying the consequences today. The 17-year-old
Wunderkind Boris is very different to the 57-year-old Mr. Becker.

BB Absolutely. It’s about the inner light – sometimes it shines and other times it doesn’t. I believe a lot in creating your own energy when necessary.
By now, I have the ability to turn on my light if I want to, and turn it off when I have to.

BB I had wonderful and instrumental people in my life that taught me the right from wrong. I have to start with my parents for my personal
growth and Ion Tiriac for my professional one. But there were many people in the last 40 years who had an impact on my life, some were positive,
others were negative.
I certainly learned a lot from my kids and becoming a father.

BB Patience. If you think you know it all, become a parent. You learn about unconditional love, trying to become a good example, and it never
stops…being a parent.

BB It is difficult, but I believe in the way I was brought up. Go out there in the thing called life and make your own experiences. You very quickly find out what is good for you and what is not. You can always come home and ask questions, but the quicker you learn it on your own, the
better it is for you.

BB Never. My kids might see that differently, though.

BB I had my share. On and off the court. Professionally, losing in a Grand Slam final hurts tremendously, and on a personal level, a divorce is a
defeat, but for all parties involved.

BB I learned more about myself through defeat than victory. Losing always made me reflect about my flaws and mistakes. They teach you more
than victories.

BB It gave me time to think and reflect on why I have to spend the night in a cell.

BB That’s a problem all athletes share. Suddenly, you are old at age 35. You have to find something as fulfilling and challenging. But a match ball on the center court in Wimbledon – I won’t find anything like that. Though I was more emotional on the days my children were born. The first steps, the first words, first time they walk on their own, etc. That makes you nervous as a father. You might notice I enjoy talking about
them…

BB There is no definitive answer to that. But I am happy I fell, because it means that I am still alive. Victory is a one-way street. In my case, people know my mistakes. My setbacks have improved me. Only when you can endure pain do you gain strength. If people say life goes by so quickly, I full-heartedly disagree: My life has been quite full so far. What I went through would be enough for seven lives.

BB I find peace at Church and I actually pray a lot. I speak to God in my prayers and ask him for advice. I need my one hour of silence every
day – after all, I was an altar boy in church as a kid in Leimen.

BB Both are strong emotions. But love will always win. Which is why I don’t hold grudges. I am a loving person. Even if some people did me
wrong.

BB I believe my DNA is always the same, but my personality has changed. I would like to think that it has matured, because I’m still learning
about being Boris Becker. I am shedding many layers to get to my core.

BB We wouldn’t be having this conversation today. I like to think that I can function as a team player. But I need direction and purpose. I need
to know my role. I cannot be a bystander or a blind follower. If I know I play in the defense on the soccer team – trust me, nobody will be able
to pass by. My favorite midfielder was the Italian player Gennaro Gattuso. I would be like him: unsurmountable.

BB I hate losing and I cannot stand mediocrity.

BB It’s not so important for me anymore whether the public or the media understands me or my point of view. I do get surprised when people
who apparently know me for 25 years tell me that I have changed or that I am very different to what they thought I was. I just smile.

BB It seems to be getting colder and a lot more aggressive than before. Unfortunately, there is no easy future ahead of us. I do talk with my
children about that a lot.

BB In Milan with my wife. To get back to your first question: I don’t wake up with a song, but with an Italian state of mind. I might be living now
where I have always belonged.

VM: I BASICALLY GREW UP WITH FILM AND HAVE ALWAYS HAD A FASCINATION FOR IT. WHEN IN 2017 I DECIDED TO WORK ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WITH ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY, THE MAIN REASON WAS THAT ON INSTAGRAM EVERYTHING LOOKED THE SAME – EVERYONE USED THE SAME FILTERS. I WANTED MY PHOTOS TO STAND OUT. NOW, OF COURSE, SHOOTING ON FILM HAS BECOME COMMON AGAIN, BUT I’LL STAY LOYAL TO IT, MAINLY BECAUSE I THINK SKIN TONES LOOK SO MUCH MORE BEAUTIFUL ON FILM.

VM: HONESTLY, TOO MUCH IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. ALTHOUGH… IT’S NOT JUST THE FOLLOWERS’ EXPECTATIONS, IT’S ALSO THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE INDUSTRY, THE BRANDS, AND MY OWN EXPECTATIONS OF MYSELF. I’VE BEEN PUTTING A LOT OF PRESSURE ON MYSELF THESE LAST YEARS. BUT RIGHT NOW, I’M REALLY TRYING TO MOVE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION: TO DO WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY AND ALSO JUST WHAT I PERSONALLY WANT TO SEE.

VM: NOT FORCING MYSELF INTO A SINGLE LABEL WAS CRUCIAL FOR ME. IT GAVE ME THE FREEDOM TO MOVE BETWEEN MEDIA, STYLES, AND MOMENTS WITHOUT HAVING TO EXPLAIN MYSELF. THAT FREEDOM HAS SHAPED MY IDENTITY AS AN ARTIST: CURIOUS, OPEN, AND ALWAYS READY TO REINVENT MYSELF.

VM: OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, I’VE LEARNED THAT IF SOMEONE WANTS TO PUT YOU IN A BOX, THEY’LL DO IT ANYWAY. IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY TO CONVINCE THEM OTHERWISE, SO LET THEM PUT ME IN A BOX! [LAUGHS] I KNOW I CAN OPEN A LOT OF THEM!

VM: ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE. SOMETIMES I MANAGE TO FIND TIME FOR MYSELF BETTER THAN OTHER TIMES, BUT SINCE MY ONLINE AND OFFLINE SELVES ARE BASICALLY THE SAME PERSON, WITH LOTS OF OVERLAP, I REALLY CAN’T COMPLAIN. IT GENERALLY ALL FEELS PRETTY ORGANIC.

VM: VISIONARIES INSPIRE ME BECAUSE THEY PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF WHAT’S FAMILIAR AND MAKE US SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY. YES, THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT ROLE MODELS FROM FASHION, ART, AND MUSIC. I THINK OF ARTISTS WHO RADICALLY EVOLVE THEIR AESTHETICS, WHO TURN THEIR BACKS ON THE MAINSTREAM AND PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THAT, CREATE A NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE.

VM: MY VISION IS TO CREATE SPACES THAT FEEL DREAMY AND
ATMOSPHERIC – TANGIBLE. PLACES THAT SLOW US DOWN AND MAKE US REFLECT. FOR MY WORK, I WANT TO CONTINUE DISSOLVING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN MEDIA, GENRES, AND MOMENTS, AND KEEP FINDING NEW WAYS TO EXPRESS MYSELF. IN GENERAL, I DREAM OF A WORLD WHERE CREATIVITY IS FREE AND NOT BOUND BY EXPECTATIONS
– JUST LIKE I TRY TO LIVE IT THROUGH MY WORK.