Tricky grew up from a mixed marriage in Knowle West, a disadvantaged white suburb of Bristol. He considers himself a 'mixed race'. Despite his dark complexion, discrimination was alien to him. He could hang out in a Jamaican club where there were no whites to be seen, and in a white club where he was the only black. Because of this and through the many music lovers in his family, he was introduced
… to an extensive range of music styles. He returns a large part of this to Mixed Race. Or as he says himself: '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'. He also calls Mixed Race a gangster album. Not the kind of gangster album where the artist prides himself on his crimes, but a gangster album composed of observations from the sidelines. Still Mixed Race contains a number of cheerful notes such as cheerful jazz rhythms and chasing surf guitars. And that's a rarity in Tricky's usually dark work. (AD)more