Bristol MC Tricky has reflected on the violence which has plagued his life, ahead of his reflective new album.
Brought up on a tough Bristol council estate, Tricky was surrounded by violence from an early age. Losing himself in music, the young rapper developed his distinctive whispering style which hinted at a lifetime of violence.
In Tricky’s music, violence – and the threat of violence – is never far away. Returning with his new album ‘Mixed Race’ the Bristol MC is clearly in reflective mode, with the new material including the track ‘Murder Weapon’.
Recently moving to France, Tricky spent the best part of the last decade in the United States. Getting caught up in the nation’s gun culture, the rapper is relieved to be far away from that environment.
“For one thing,” he told The Guardian, “I started getting into the gun culture, shooting at galleries and in the desert and all that. One time I did this stupid thing of leaving a gun under my bed.”
“It was an Uzi. The cleaner used to come to my house and bring her kids; unfortunately one kid found the gun and fired it when I was out. Luckily, I was in a restaurant because when the police came I could prove I’d been there and not fired the gun myself.”
The bullet smashed through a wall and buried itself in a neighbour’s flat. “They weren’t that happy about it,” he explained. “So what it comes down to: you’ve got to be disciplined there, you know what I mean?”
Now in a reflective mood, Tricky reminisced about the music he would hear as a child. “When I was 12 and my cousins Mark and Miles, from the first line-up of Massive Attack, would be getting ready to go out, they would be playing everything from Parliament to T-Rex” he said.
“My Uncle Ken who helped to bring me up is a white guy who got me into black music – he used to play Al Green, Sam Cooke. I’ve been blessed because no one can put my music in a box – it’s not black, it’s not white, it’s not female, it’s not male.”
Tricky’s new album ‘Mixed Race’ is due to be released on September 27th.
