Latest Release
- APR 14, 2023
- 2 Songs
- Maxinquaye (Deluxe Edition) · 1995
- Maxinquaye (Deluxe Edition) · 1975
- Blowback · 2001
- Maxinquaye · 1994
- Pre-Millennium Tension · 1996
- Maxinquaye (Deluxe Edition) · 1995
- Maxinquaye (Deluxe Edition) · 1995
- Pre-Millennium Tension · 1996
- False Idols (Bonus Track Version) · 2013
- Maxinquaye · 1995
Essential Albums
- By the time Adrian Thaws began working on his second album as Tricky, the languid electronic soul of his debut, Maxinquaye, was being polished by other artists into something even more palatable at dinner parties. Eager to shake the “trip-hop” tag, Tricky made his own music increasingly unsettling: “Can hardly breathe”, he utters in a smoke-damaged drawl against backward guitars and rumbling beats on “Vent”, heralding a murky, claustrophobic and fractious 45 minutes. His fusion of rap, punk, dub and, on “Piano”, the sound of a respirator, is as hypnotic (“Christiansands”) as it is abrasive (“My Evil Is Strong”)—and consistently inventive. Pre-Millennium Tension restated the possibilities for British hip-hop, its influence creeping as far and wide as Burial and Radiohead.
- If unease were an art form, then Maxinquaye would be its Sistine Chapel. Thanks to its unhurried hush, the album is a make-out must, but it's the pervading sense of danger that makes it so sensually sinister. Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird play devil and angel on your shoulders, trading gravelly raps with cool, crystalline delivery. Despite the claustrophobic atmospheres, there's something for every mood, from the sultry whispers of "Overcome" to a thrilling Public Enemy cover, "Black Steel." Listen loud—and, preferably, late at night.
- 2021
- 2020
- 2017
- 2016
- 2014
Music Videos
- 2018
- 2010
- 2008
- 2008
Artist Playlists
- Let the trip-hop Tricky Kid live in your headphones.
- The dark visionaries and funky geniuses who taught the trip-hop maverick his tricks.
Compilations
More To Hear
- An eclectic mix, from Sly & The Family Stone to Soundgarden.
- The season finale, with freestyles from Fix Dot'M, Tricky & Youngs Teflon
About Tricky
Taking inspiration from Jamaican sound systems—including one run by members of his family—British vocalist/producer Tricky gradually merged dub’s slow, sleepy rhythms with his own sweet spots in rock, blues, post-punk, and elsewhere. Born Adrian Thaws in Bristol in 1968, Tricky fell in with local sound system the Wild Bunch, which evolved into trip-hop ensemble Massive Attack. After rapping on the group’s 1991 album Blue Lines, he made his solo debut with 1995’s Maxinquaye, named in tribute to his late mother, Maxine Quaye. Mingling askew samples and his own intermittent vocals with collaborator Martina Topley-Bird’s dusty murmurs, Tricky helped to define trip-hop’s melancholic cool—while also announcing his dab hand at transformative cover versions with a seething rework of Public Enemy’s “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.” He has since carved out a prolific career as a genre-blending solo artist, all while collaborating far and wide.
- HOMETOWN
- Bristol, England
- BORN
- January 27, 1968
- GENRE
- Alternative