b. Adrian Thaws, 27 January 1968, Knowle West, Bristol, England. One of the leading exponents of the trip-hop genre, Tricky began his musical career in the late 80s as a member of an informal crew of MCs, DJs and singers based in Bristol and known as the Wild Bunch. This collective eventually mutated into the pioneering Massive Attack, with Tricky contributing guest raps to "Daydreaming" and "Five Man Army' on the band's brilliant 1991 debut, Blue Lines. Although he worked on two tracks for the follow-up Protection (eventually released in 1994), Tricky expressed dissatisfaction with his colleagues" musical direction and moved to London to concentrate on his solo career. In late 1993, he released his first single, the trippy "Aftermath", which arose from informal sessions with Mark Stewart (ex-Pop Group) on a four-track mobile. Tricky employed the services of local schoolgirl Martina Topley-Bird (the song was recorded when she was only 15) on vocals, releasing it on his own Naive label. Despite its strong critical reception, Tricky was, in the best traditions of Massive Attack, reticent about his abilities: "I don't really consider myself to be a rapper. I'm more of a lyricist really".
The subsequent Maxinquaye was one of the critical favourites of 1995, and a surprising commercial success despite being an atmospheric and unsettling record that explored the darker recesses of its creator's mind on tracks such as "Hell Is Round The Corner" and "Feed Me". Stylistically, the album ranged from a dramatic hard rock cover version of Public Enemy's "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" to the mock soul of "Abbaon Fat Tracks". The album's murky, claustrophobic sound had roots in both the hip-hop and ambient genres, and was dubbed "trip-hop" by critics struggling to define what would become known as the "Bristol sound".
Later in the year Tricky collaborated with horrercore rap crew Gravediggaz on The Hell EP, and set-up his Durban Poison production company. The following year's Nearly God was a compelling side-project that saw Tricky collaborating with guest vocalists including Björk, Neneh Cherry and Terry Hall. After moving to New York City he continued to pursue a busy remixing schedule while writing tracks for his second album, and even found the time to make his big-screen debut in The Fifth Element.
The 1996 album Pre-Millennium Tension made for even more uneasy listening, with tracks such as "Tricky Kid" and "Lyrics Of Fury' being both threatening and paranoid in turn. By 1998"s Angels With Dirty Faces, however, Tricky had begun to sound like a pastiche of himself as song after song stooped further into dark isolation against a relentlessly droning musical backdrop. The following year's Juxtapose, a collaboration with DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) and DMX producer Grease, was a timely return to form. It proved to be his last release on Island Records, with whom the artist parted company at the end of the year. He subsequently signed to the hip Anti imprint of Epitaph Records and spoke candidly about being cured of a debilitating physical disease. The excellent Blowback (2001) was heralded as his best album since Maxinquaye. The follow-up Vulnerable featured several collaborations with Italian singer Constanza Francavilla.
