Tricky took aim at record labels chasing TikTok hits, arguing that the rush to sign a viral song can leave young artists stranded when their next release fails.
The Bristol rapper and producer made his case in a new interview with High Times. He linked the push for singles and online hits to what he saw as music sounding more alike. He described a business that signed artists off one song, then sent them back to TikTok if the follow-up failed.
Tricky said he finished an album before picking its singles. He had even cut songs that might work on radio because they did not fit the record.
“I’d hate to be in a position where I need singles to release an album,” he said.
That freedom also shaped “Out of Place,” a track from “Different When It’s Silent.” He said his radio promoters had advised against picking it as a single, but it reached BBC Radio 6 Music’s A-list without a chorus. He said that response was hard to predict.
A Luminate study commissioned by TikTok, covering 2024, found that 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 had first seen high engagement on the app.
Tricky learned what he wanted from a label through years of deals that gave him more or less room to work. He recalled earlier this year that Island founder Chris Blackwell had let him make music without talking about sales. Other label deals were a harder fit. With his own False Idols label, he could make choices that a company might reject.
“Record companies can be good for some people. It was just difficult for me,” he told Music Week.
That shift had been taking shape long before the current album. After making two records for Domino, he released “False Idols” through his own label in 2013. He told Under the Radar at the time that greater control had renewed his interest in recording.
“I knew when I was doing this album, I didn’t have to get permission to mix,” he said then.
His current North American dates include an October 15 show at The Loft in Atlanta.
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