Tricky

Tricky, recognized as a trip-hop pioneer, launched his career alongside the Bristol icons Massive Attack prior to striking out independently as a solo artist. His signature raspy vocals and hypnotic production approach established him as a constant presence in the electronic music landscape of the 1990s, where he earned critical praise for the landmark 1995 debut Maxinquaye as well as notable releases such as 1996's Pre-Millennium Tension and 1998's Angels with Dirty Faces. He sustained his recording activity well into the 21st century, achieving intermittent chart traction with projects including Blowback (2001), Knowle West Boy (2008), and False Idols (2013). Apart from songwriting and production duties, Tricky has also worked as an actor and author.

Born Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws, he grew up in Bristol's Knowle West district. After enduring a difficult childhood, he abandoned gang involvement to concentrate on music, writing lyrics and rapping during the mid-1980s. Initially he belonged to the local rap crew the Wild Bunch, which evolved into Massive Attack before the decade concluded. Tricky supplied key raps on the group's influential 1992 album Blue Lines, then issued his first solo single, "Aftermath." During this period he encountered teenage vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who would become one of his most consistent musical partners.

Tricky inked a deal with 4th & Broadway in 1994. The agreement included a provision permitting side projects under alternate names alongside standard Tricky releases. "Ponderosa" and "Overcome" appeared throughout 1994; that same year he contributed a cameo to Massive Attack's follow-up album Protection. His debut album Maxinquaye arrived in spring 1995. The record not only attracted overwhelmingly favorable reviews upon release but also debuted at number two on the U.K. charts despite receiving no daytime radio support. Throughout 1995 Tricky remained highly visible across the U.K., collaborating with and remixing for numerous artists such as Björk, Luscious Jackson, and Whale. In fall 1995 he issued Tricky vs. the Gravediggaz, a collaboration with the American hardcore rap group, plus the single "I Be the Prophet" under the name Starving Souls. By year's end Maxinquaye topped multiple British year-end lists, among them those compiled by Melody Maker and NME.

Nearly God—an album showcasing Tricky's collaborations with an array of artists including Terry Hall, Björk, Alison Moyet, and Neneh Cherry—surfaced in February 1996 and again drew strong reviews; its U.S. release followed six months later. After finishing his second proper Tricky album, he moved to New York City in early 1996 and began working with underground rappers. The EP Grassroots came out in the U.S. that September. Two months afterward his official second album Pre-Millennium Tension appeared; the set became his second-highest-selling release in the U.S. and his first to register on the Billboard 200.

Beyond his three 1996 releases, Tricky remixed a broad range of artists such as Elvis Costello, Garbage, Yoko Ono, and Bush. His subsequent full-length solo effort Angels with Dirty Faces arrived in 1998, followed a year later by Juxtapose, a joint project with Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs and DMX's producer Dame Grease.

Tricky resurfaced in 2001 with the Mission Accomplished EP on the Epitaph subsidiary Anti. Blowback, his first outing for Hollywood Records, emerged that June and featured assorted collaborations with Hawkman, Live's Ed Kowalczyk, Alanis Morissette, and Red Hot Chili Peppers members Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante. Increasingly conscious of his brooding media image and irritated by music publications labeling him "the Dark Prince," he crafted Vulnerable in 2003 to present himself as a more approachable artist. That same year the Back to Mine label released a remix compilation he assembled before embarking on a five-year hiatus from new recordings.

Knowle West Boy, his most critically lauded work since Pre-Millennium Tension, signaled a robust return for the trip-hop pioneer in 2008, after which Tricky toured extensively for a full year. In August 2010 he surfaced with the single "Murder Weapon," a reinterpretation of Echo Minott's 1990s dancehall hit that had captivated him. Continuing the precedent set by his well-known reading of Public Enemy's "Black Steel" alongside backing vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, "Murder Weapon" likewise spotlighted a female voice—in this instance Irish-Italian singer Franky Riley, one of his touring backing vocalists. Tricky followed the single with the album Mixed Race later that autumn.

Dissatisfied with Domino Records, he established his own False Idols imprint for the release of his ninth solo album, also titled False Idols. After several years of touring and festival performances, he revealed details of his tenth album, Adrian Thaws. Named after his birth name, the 2014 release represented another artistic reinvention from the continually evolving artist. Like 1996's Nearly God, his 2016 project Skilled Mechanics occupied a space between a conventional album and a side project, with Tricky joined by guests such as Oh Land plus artists from the False Idols roster. He returned in 2017 with ununiform, which saw him reconnecting with his sonic origins through the contributions of longtime collaborators Topley-Bird and Francesca Belmonte, along with new associates including Kazakh rapper Scriptonite and California vocalist Avalon Lurks, who performed on a cover of Hole's "Doll Parts."

Stepping away from music, he wrote the autobiography Hell Is Round the Corner, published in 2019. That same year his daughter Mina Mazy, born to Topley-Bird, died by suicide at age 24. While grieving, he channeled some of his sorrow back into the studio. The resulting EP 20, 20 appeared early in 2020 and included collaborations with Marta and Anika. Additional material from those sessions surfaced later that year as his fourteenth full-length Fall to Pieces, once again featuring vocal contributions from Marta and a returning Oh Land.