Not too long ago I finished reading Tricky’s autobiography – Hell Around the Corner. I had wanted to check it out for a while since he’s one of those artists who really influenced my own work, and also, I’ve watched almost every interview of his.
The book itself is really interesting; it’s full of facts and topics he hadn’t mentioned in his interviews before, as well as a lot of things he constantly talks about. Finally, I learned the reasons behind his fallout with Massive Attack, even though he’d only touched on it briefly in interviews.
As a psychologist, I was particularly interested in the topic of his mother; it comes up in nearly every interview and is mentioned several times in the book. In fact, the book starts with his memories of standing by her coffin. At the end, in a childlike way, with light naivety and joy, he admits that he finally understands who he is, what he needs, and what to do next.
While reading, I couldn’t shake the feeling of repetition, because the story is told from several people’s perspectives, and sometimes it feels like you’re reading the same thing over and over again. There was also a bit of disappointment and admiration, but that’s on me.
A huge plus for me was the absence of any political topics. In general, Tricky is a big example for me because he stays true to himself, doesn’t chase trends or hype, and doesn’t engage in reactionary populism (looking at you, Massive Attack).
From this book, I probably got what I expected: confirmation that, no matter what, you need to follow and believe in yourself.
Also, I learned about the practice of Tai Chi. I was already familiar with Qigong, but Tai Chi is what’s started actually helping me now – my thoughts have calmed down and there’s finally silence in my head.
When you get the form, your hands heat up and then you go somewhere else — you stop thinking about the outside world, and then you start thinking, ‘Ah, negative, I know that word, but what does it mean?’ and you can’ figure out what negative means. You think, ‘Depressed — I know that word but what does it mean?’ Then you think of happiness: ‘Oh yeah, I understand that, and, “Oh yeah, I did this in the womb!’