Tricky
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| Tricky | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Adrian Thaws | |
| Also known as | Tricky Kid | |
| Born | January 27, 1968 | |
| Origin | Knowle West, Bristol, England  |
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| Genre(s) | Trip-hop | |
| Occupation(s) | producer, mixer, musician | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica | |
| Associated acts |
The Wild Bunch Massive Attack |
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| Website | http://www.trickyonline.com/ | |
Adrian Thaws (born January 27, 1968), better known as Tricky, is an English rapper and musician important in the trip hop and British music scene (despite loathing the "trip hop" tag). He is noted for a whispering lyrical style that is half-rapped, half-sung. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound. Culturally, Tricky bridges white and black Britain, particularly in his fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop culture.
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[edit] Biography
Tricky was born in Knowle West, Bristol, England. His father left the family before he was even born and his mother, Maxine Quaye, committed suicide when he was four. He named his first solo album after her - Maxinquaye - and once said that though he hardly knew her he feels like she's speaking through him with his words.
Tricky's family includes a great diversity of ethnic backgrounds, including Jamaican, Spanish, British, Amerindian and many others. He cites that his family is incredibly varied in appearance, one cousin white, one seemingly Asian, one very dark-skinned and looking mostly of African heritage[citation needed].
He spent his youth with his grandmother, who often let him watch old horror movies instead of going to school. At 15 he began to write lyrics ("I like to rock, I like to dance, I like pretty girls taking down their pants" MixMag '96), though not with the ambiguity and tricky-ness that showed up later on his albums. At 17, he spent some time in prison because he bought forged £50 notes from a friend, who later informed the police. In an interview, Tricky said: "Prison was really good. I'm never going back" (NME '95).
[edit] Early career
Eventually he met DJ Milo and hung out with a sound system called The Wild Bunch, which by 1987 evolved into Massive Attack. He received the nickname 'Tricky Kid' and at 18 he became a member of the Fresh 4, a rap group built from The Wild Bunch. He also rapped on Massive Attack's acclaimed debut album Blue Lines (1991). But as soon as making music turned into a business he didn't like it anymore. Though Tricky also appeared on Massive Attack's next album, Protection, he never had the feeling of being a part of the band and never really enjoyed it.
In 1991, before the release of Massive Attack's album Blue Lines, he met Martina Topley-Bird. The story of how they both met may be a myth, but it's a nice one: Martina was sitting on a wall near Tricky's house when he walked by and chatted her up. Some time later she came to his house, and mentioned to Tricky and Mark Stewart that she could sing. Martina was only fifteen years old, but her 'honey-coated vox' impressed them and they recorded a song called "Aftermath" (though The Face '95 mentions that the first song they recorded together was called "Shoebox").
Tricky showed "Aftermath" to Massive Attack, but they weren't interested. So in 1993 he decided to press a few hundreds vinyls of the song. He cut it directly off of the tape, so that the song is basically "just bassline and hiss". (NME '94). Finally, this white label got him a contract with Island Records and he started to record his first solo album.
[edit] Breakthrough
He left Massive Attack to release his debut album, Maxinquaye (named after his late mother "Maxine Quaye", allegedly reggae/soul singer Finley Quaye's half-sister). The album was a massive success and Tricky was catapulted to international fame, something he was notably uncomfortable with.
Tricky failed to complete a number of lyrics for the Massive Attack album Protection and gave the band some of the lyrics he had written for Maxinquaye instead. When Massive Attack was asked about why the lyrics were the same in a Radio interview on CFNY (Toronto) they jokingly said that it was because he was lazy. Different versions of the same songs appear on both albums - called "Overcome" and "Hell is 'Round the Corner" on Maxinquaye and "Karmacoma" and "Eurochild" on Protection.
Tricky found it difficult to cope with the huge success of Maxinquaye and he subsequently eschewed the laidback soul sound of the first album to create an increasingly edgy and aggressive punk tinged music.
[edit] Idiosyncrasies and media controversies
By the time Pre-Millennium Tension was released Tricky was increasingly irritated with the press, particularly articles written in The Face magazine. The Face had been an early champion of Maxinquaye, but saw Tricky as more a duo than a solo project. The Face published an article claiming that vocalist Martina Topley-Bird had to single-handedly bring up the child that Tricky had fathered.
He has also been concerned with racial stereotyping of the media. In the documentary Naked & Famous he explains how photographers want him to frown angrily in photos, because that's how black artists are marketed. He points to a recent cover of The Big Issue, where he has a more ambiguous, confused look on his face, as being more how he feels. In the song "Tricky Kid" from Pre-Millennium Tension, he writes "As long as you're humble/Let you be the king of jungle", indicating that all black music is still judged as music from "the African jungle" and that its black fans are "savages". That same lyric was also said to be a subtle dig at rival jungle king Goldie.
In 1995 during the making of Icelandic singer Björk's album Post, the two were romantically involved. The two kept this a secret from the press, feeling the tabloids would never leave them in peace. After their relationship ended, Björk began a short lived relationship with drum and bass artist Goldie with whom Tricky famously had a fist fight at a Florida night club. He contributed writing on the Post tracks "Enjoy" and "Headphones".
[edit] Side projects and film career
Tricky has guest starred on a number of albums, including a notable appearance on Live's fifth studio album, V. This appearance came as Tricky and Live's lead singer Ed Kowalczyk had developed a close friendship, with Kowalczyk contributing vocals to 'Evolution Revolution Love', a track on Tricky's album Blowback.
Tricky has also acted in various films. He appeared in a significant supporting role in the 1997 Luc Besson film The Fifth Element, playing the right-hand man Michael to evil businessman Mr. Zorg. He reportedly put off actor Gary Oldman (who played Zorg) because, while he had his back to the camera, he was eating a Twix bar, to Oldman's anger ("He's facking eatin' a Twix!") [1]. He also appears briefly in the 2004 Olivier Assayas film Clean, playing himself, and had a large role in the music video for "Parabol/Parabola" by Tool.
In 2001 Tricky appeared in online advertising for the webisodal show We Deliver, [2] about a marijuana delivery service in NYC. Though he didin't actually appear in any episodes, in the advertising it appears as if he's a customer of the service.
After the release of Blowback, Tricky opened for Tool with the full support of his band during Tool's Lateralus Tour in 2001 and 2002. He and Hawkman, a rapper on Blowback, joined Tool on stage to perform "Opiate" and "Reflection", respectively.
[edit] Currently
Tricky's website last reports him busy at work with the musical acts signed to his Brown Punk record label. He also recently produced several new solo works that have been featured in television programs such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The L Word and Girlfriends. As well as this Tricky contributed a track to a compilation entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, the track is called "Au Revoir Emmanuelle".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
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[edit] Compilations
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[edit] Singles and EPs
| Year | Song | UK singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Ponderosa" | - | Maxinquaye |
| 1995 | "Aftermath" | 69 | Maxinquaye |
| 1995 | "Overcome" | 34 | Maxinquaye |
| 1995 | "Black Steel" | 28 | Maxinquaye |
| 1995 | "The Hell EP" (Tricky vs. Tha Gravediggaz) | 12 | also appears on The Crow: City of Angels |
| 1995 | "Pumpkin" | 26 | Maxinquaye |
| 1996 | "Poems" | 28 | Nearly God |
| 1996 | "Grassroots EP" | - | - |
| 1996 | "Christiansands" | 36 | Pre-Millennium Tension |
| 1997 | "Tricky Kid" | 28 | Pre-Millennium Tension |
| 1997 | "Makes Me Wanna Die" | 29 | Pre-Millennium Tension |
| 1998 | "Money Greedy" / "Broken Homes" | 25 | Angels With Dirty Faces |
| 1999 | "For Real" | 45 | Juxtapose |
| 2000 | "Mission Accomplished EP" | - | - |
| 2001 | "Evolution Revolution Love" | - | Blowback |
| 2002 | "You Don't Wanna" | - | Blowback |
| 2004 | "How High" | - | Vulnerable |
[edit] Collaborating artists
- Martina Topley-Bird
- Damon Albarn (unreleased song intended for Nearly God)
- Terry Hall
- Ambersunshower
- Björk
- Cath Coffey
- Neneh Cherry
- DJ Muggs
- Garbage
- Alison Goldfrapp
- Gravediggaz
- Grace Jones
- PJ Harvey
- Chesney Hawkes
- Ed Kowalczyk of Live
- Cyndi Lauper
- Hawkman
- Massive Attack
- Mos Def
- Stephanie McKay
- Alanis Morissette
- Alison Moyet
- Paul Oakenfold
- Nelly Furtado
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Constanza Francavilla
- Terranova
- Tool
- Afrika Islam (Here Come The Aliens)
