Even among the chosen few artist currently experimenting with the sonic structures of
    black pop music, Tricky walks to the beat of a different drum-machine. "I've always felt
    comfortable doing things the hard way instead of going for the obvious," says Tricky.
    "I've never been into compromising my sound for anyone else."

    On his latest opus, entitled Juxtapose, Tricky has fallen down a surrealist rabbit hole
    where players slayers dwell and blunted beats have become the constant soundtrack; an
    illmatic world where electric-guitars blare, gleaming turntables scream, and above it all
    Tricky's inimitable vocals moan in the mix. "I chose to name this disc Juxtapose,
    because the concept was to create a hybrid of my favorite music," says Tricky

    "I developed a passion for music at an early age," remembers Tricky. "I listened to
    everything from reggae to punk, but it was the sound of hip-hop that would change my
    life."

    Transfixed by the powerful sounds of America's gritty underground, which included the
    holy trinity of Rakim, Chuck D and Slick Rick, young Adrian (Tricky) Thaws' entire
    musical aesthetic shifted once he began to absorb these boastful, foreign voices from
    across the ocean. "The first time I heard Slick Rick doing 'La-Di-Da-Di,' I'd never
    heard anything like that in my entire life. "From that moment, I started telling my
    homeboys I was a rapper; in fact, I told people I was a rapper for a year before I even
    wrote my first rhyme."

    Over a decade later, when Tricky began mixing the monster movie funk and spooky
    electric spunk of his sonic cocktails - smoky dub --Maxinquaye (1995), Pre-Millennium
    Tension (1996), Angels With Dirty Faces (1998) and countless side projects, he still
    embraced the words of rap-speak. "When I first came out everyone considered me an
    alternative artist, but, in my opinion there is no music more alternative than hip-hop,"
    says Tricky. "And, in the same way I think producers like Premier and RZA are wicked,
    these are hip-hop producers who have been checking my style."

    Witness Juxtapose, an album that marks the first time Tricky has decided to loosen his
    creative reigns in favor of boombastic collaborations. "I've never allowed another
    producer to incorporate their music into my albums," explains Tricky. "But there are
    dudes like DJ Muggs (of Cypress Hill fame) and Grease (Ruff Ryders, DMX producer)
    that I really wanted to work with," says Tricky. "And with Juxtapose I feel that my
    original vision has become a reality."

    "I was familiar with Grease's work, so I felt privileged that he wanted to work with me,"
    says Tricky excitedly. "We went into the studio and straight away he played me material
    that just blew me away. Unlike a lot of hip-hop producers, Grease has the ability to
    make big songs with diverse sensibility that goes beyond any genre."

    On "Bom Bom Diggy," the first track that Tricky and Grease worked on together, it's
    obvious that these two creative darlings were made for eachother. The track also
    introduces the potent rhyme stlye of Mad Dog (from the UK hip-hop outfit London
    Posse), perhaps the illest rapper to rise above the London fog.

    Listening to the intense "Hot Like A Sauna," which also utilizes Mad Dog's bark and
    Grease's slippery sound, Tricky also finds room to showcase his latest vocal discovery
    Kioka. "It was decided that Martina would concentrate on creating her solo album, so I
    had to find a different voice," explains Tricky, who has signed Kioka to his Durban
    Posion label. "Her voice is almost magical."

    Tricky recorded the track "She Said", with its futuristic Latin beats and lush production,
    while hanging with DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill fame in Miami. "I never hung out more in
    my life," recalls Tricky. "And in Miami, there were a lot of Spanish girls who were
    always talking to me. It was the beautiful Cuban women of Miami that that song was
    written about." In addition, Muggs co-produced the first single off the album, "For
    Real," the song ask other creative artist to tone down thier own gangsta-centric
    language on wax.

    "Of course there were true artists like Biggie who had an understnding of real violence,
    but there are many others who just get a kick out of being shocking. For most it's not
    about struggling, but being an urban cowboy. And that can be very boring.

    As with every Tricky album, a lengthy world tour is in the planning stage, with a
    summer's worth of dates in Europe in addition to a full slate of cities in America in late-
    summer and fall.

    Although most of his fans are aware of what hip-hop has offered Tricky, one is still
    curious of what he can offer the culture itself. "Hip-hop ia a part of my history, and I
    feel my musical stance brings a different perspective to an artform that I love and respect.
    I'm not trying to be a tough guy or a pimp, and I feel that Juxtapose can bring a different
    way of thinking about hip-hop."
 

    For more information please contact:
    John Vlautin at Island/Def Jam Music Group