From Loudspeakers to Headphones

England has long been synonymous with the production of new and noteworthy musical acts. From the Clash to Stormzy, from London to Liverpool, from Britpop to Amy Winehouse, important musical artists and scenes alike have sprouted from nearly every corner of the United Kingdom. Bristol, however, had lain relatively under the radar in terms of music until the 1990s when an array of musical acts began to arise and the Bristol music scene went from being consumption based (of popular music trends, that is) to production based. Of the many factors that contributed to the rise of the scene in Bristol, the diversity of the city stands out as an important one. As a result of being one of the main historical slave ports in England, Bristol has developed into a largely multicultural environment over the past two centuries, and as such became a melting pot of different musical backgrounds (Thompson). These musical backgrounds resulted in an abundance of music culture which manifested itself in small national identity groups around the city. In that respect one can argue that a reason for Bristol’s passivity in the music scene is because it couldn’t figure out from what roots to grow a scene. However, in a city where many of the major monuments and street names recall the slave trade, it only makes sense that some reflection of this heritage will manifest itself in the music produced, whether concious or not (Johnson, P). Though, the question worth exploring is not what the influences were, but rather with what did these influences converge in the late 80s and early 90s to create the genre that Bristol would become synonymous with: trip hop.

In an attempt to uncover the missing piece to this aforementioned confluence, the story is traced back to the racially tense, unemployment filled, resistive sociopolitical climate of Bristol in the late 70s and early 80s (King). One particular instance of this climate is crucial to trip hop – the St Pauls Riots of 1980.

The Dug Out originally operated as a dive bar jazz club, but before it became trip hop’s ground zero. From historical accounts it was a special place, comparable to hip hop it Bristol to what “52nd street clubs were to bebop” (Johnson, P). It was situated in the center of the city, in Clifton, which, while being a nice neighborhood, was somewhat of a neutral ground. “Everyone, absolutely everyone used to be there,'' from all the different neighborhoods, that is (Johnson, P).

“Everyone, absolutely everyone used to be there,''... “it was that place you could chat, drink communicate and get into the music... in terms of the music, Dug Out was the only place you could mix... there was a different crowd every night”

Those who frequented the club remember it being so good because, “it was that place you could chat, drink communicate and get into the music... in terms of the music, Dug Out was the only place you could mix... there was a different crowd every night” (Johnson, P). The Dug Out was a magnet for people from all neighborhoods. There, while the socioeconomic boundaries were still somewhat apparent, the ‘gloriously dingy hang-out’ facilitated an environment wherein these boundaries could be worked around and as a unified musical culture could be established (Johnson, P).

Ones who frequented the club in its heyday recalls its elusive dangerousness, but apparent welcoming feel. The barrier for entry was almost none. It was lenient to minors and it drew the St Paul crown into a different neighborhood – not to the liking of the authorities. As one Bristolian remembers it, “the police really used to hate it though, because it was letting the black kids into Clifton" (Johnson, P). Insummation, the Dug Out was a breeding ground for Brisolians who were interested in engaging is the soundsystem culture it provided. And there was one significant group of kids that found each other in the Dug Out who would become the roots of one of the biggest names in trip-hop – they called themselves ‘The Wild Bunch’.

Little did many people know, the Wild Bunch had a kid on retainer, a kid who had tagged along in the sidelines during the Wild Bunch era too. This was “the stoned kid at every party... with a drugged up face, a smear of lipstick there, and his skinny body dressed in drag” (Johnson, P). “Tricky Kid” as he was initially dubbed would become an equally important musician in this history of trip hop as the likes of Massive Attack (Johnson, P).

Needless to say Tricky had his fair share of involvement in the same cultural roots as did Massive. He recalls:

“I would get calls saying the Wild Bunch were playing and to come down and lay down some rhymes. I was following American rappers at the time... but I think I invented the English mellow style of rapping.” (Johnson, P).

 While retaining its influence, Tricky's music departed from the uniformativity of hip-hop, sound system, reggae and all of the other roots from which his debut album "Maxinquaye" emerged - instead he focussed on the “mellow style of rapping” which he describes. Although he may not have been the one to "invent" trip hop, he, arguably more than anyone, embodies what trip hop was. This album struck a chord with all critics and showed the musical community that trip hop was something to be taken seriously. 

Tricky hailed from Knowle West – one of the gritties neighborhoods in Bristol comparable to St Paul. Though, its many issues were so self contained and extreme that it’s normally thought of outside of the context of the greater bristol area. Racial issues, heroin use and gang crime plagued the neighborhood (Johnson, P). Comparing to Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack who was primed with his education to be a great lyricist, Tricky was a rogue unconventional musician, “It was as if he was talking in a language he didn’t fully understand, like the poet chatterton making up the diction of an imaginary fourteenth century poet...” (Johnson, P). Knowle West had primed Tricky for a different lyrical path than Massive Attack. It is in this distinction that we first begin to notice the difference between the key players in this genre, and why all Bristol artists labeled as “trip hop” so adamantly renounce the label – though they hailed from the same place, time and culture, they lived very different lives. Regardless, the sound remained consistent between the two as some sort of downtempo mix between instrumental hip hop and the historical british sound coming from the soundsystem culture (Wragg).  

Any Dug Out era trip hop artist like the three mentioned have always adamantly been against the label of “trip hop”. The label had always been fought against because the groups that seemed to define it did not recognize in themselves a unification that seems to be present in many other genres (O’Hagen). Another reason was because they felt like they were on the brink of something new, something that they were pioneering, and to label it straight away was to restrict its development. As Robert Del Naja said in a 2006 interview:

“We used to hate that terminology so bad," laughs G. "You know, as far as we were concerned, Massive Attack music was unique, so to put it in a box was to pigeonhole it and to say, 'Right, we know where you guys are coming from.' And we didn't know where we were coming from half the time, you know what I mean? It was a resistance, but then slowly but surely you come and realize that people need some direction, and some pointers as to where to go for this music.” (Tousignant).

This seemed to be a view that was shared by Tricky and Posrtisead too. The unique aspect about these artists is that while they were all rising to prominence during a similar time and in similar places, their unifying factor was in the musical style. Whereas many other genres are more strongly characterized by a common resistance to “x”, or a similar lyrical character, or common struggles. However, the trip hop groups didn’t share this as strongly as they were portrayed by the media to have.

The music was introspective and reflective, as opposed to actively trying to reflect certain situations in the world. This is a character that is not only unique to trip hop, but crucial to its prolificness. It was a pioneering genre that had common cultural roots, but lyrically manifested itself very differently from one band to another. A quote that embodies the media’s misstep in generalizing Bristol bands is from the Radio One interview:

“I think there’s this trip hop thing... things sound really bizzare and fantastic, and you’ve got sounds like Tricky, like Portishead, Massive Attack – blimey, they’re all from Bristol actually, funnily enough” (Johnson, P).