In addition to his major label appearances, Saafir has also dominated the Bay Area underground scene on Hobo Junction's independent label, Hobo Records on which all of the songs from the group are released. Berkeley music hot spots Amoeba and Rasputin's each have a section for Junction's releases. Tricky celebrated his birthday Monday, January 27 at Club Townsend in San Francisco, playing to a sold-out house. Tricky is comprised of Tricky himself and Martina, who alternately growl, rap and sing the lyrics. Their music is far different than what is considered hip hop in the states.
Trip hop is a dark hip hop mongrel of hip hop and dub, filtered through an ominous movie soundtrack.
He has been a luminary in the Bristol, England trip hop scene, appearing on albums by Portishead and Whale. Tricky's music is saturated with samples and ample production. Though the vocals are emotive and engaging, computer generated music does not always equal an engaging live show. It is always a bit difficult translating a sample rich, heavily produced sound to a live setting. Fortunately, there was an actual drummer instead of a drum machine and a couple of guitarists, but the keyboards and synthesizer were unavoidable.