Maxinquaye is the 1995 debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky. By the time he recorded the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the group Massive Attack and discovered vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who he felt would offer another dimension to his lyrics. He signed a solo contract with 4th & B'way Records in 1993 and recorded Maxinquaye the following year primarily at his home studio in London with Topley-Bird as the album's predominant vocalist. Additional contributing singers included Alison Goldfrapp, Ragga, and Mark Stewart.
Maxinquaye was produced by Tricky with assistance from Mark Saunders, who helped him utilise dub production techniques and heavily altered samples taken from a variety of musical sources. The record's groove-oriented and low-tempo sound incorporates elements from hip hop, soul, rock, ambient techno, reggae, and experimental music. The songs explore themes of cultural decline, dysfunctional sexual relationships, fear of intimacy, and recreational drug use. In writing them, Tricky drew on his experiences in the British drug culture and the influence of his deceased mother Maxine Quaye, after whom the album is titled.
Maxinquaye was released on 20 February 1995 and reached number three on the United Kingdom's albums chart while selling over 100,000 copies in its first few months. 4th & B'way marketed the album by relying on independent record promoters and Tricky's appearances in media, including publicity photographs and music videos that portrayed him and Topley-Bird in gender-bending fashion. A widespread critical success, Maxinquaye was cited by many journalists as the year's best record and the key release of a musical style known as trip hop. Since then, it has sold 500,000 copies worldwide and ranked frequently on all-time lists of the greatest albums, being viewed as a significant influence on electronica, underground, and British hip hop.
