It's Tricky: The Adrian Thaws '90s Photo Archive

Keyboards, video games, DATs, notebooks – these are some of Tricky’s favorite things. Or, they were at some point during his prolific years in New York during the late 1990s when he was collaborating with everyone from Björk to Method Man. Eventually, the ephemera found its way to a storage facility in New Jersey where it was recently unearthed and catalogued on Tumblr in anticipation of his new album titled in honor of his given name, Adrian Thaws.

Elaborating on the Tumblr time capsule and hip-hop’s impact on him, Tricky tells VIBE, “Visiting New York again was amazing after not being there for a few years. I wouldn't consider my self a hip-hop artist, but hip-hop was a big influence for me so when you're an artist you know you have to live in New York at one time because that was the Mecca for urban music. Seeing the photos from my house brought back all the vibes New York meant to me. It's a visually simulating city and seeing the photos also made me miss the city."

For years, music fans have wondered what the inside of Tricky’s mind must be like: is his imagination as shadowy and smoky as his beats and lyrics are dusky and blunted? Or are sparkly unicorns secretly running the whole show? We may never know for sure, but thanks to the Adrian Thaws Archive, we can at least peek at some great photos while we muse on what makes Tricky tick. As Tricky said to photographer Amy Albataew: “You’ve captured the chaos of my life and made it beautiful.”

Inevitably, there is talk of an exhibition brewing, but nothing has been confirmed yet. To keep up with the archive as it’s updated with new items, follow here: Tricky: The Adrian Thaws Archive, '95 -'99.

Click through VIBE’s gallery of selected images from ‘The Adrian Thaws Archive’ after the jump. Additional rare snapshots will be added to the blog regularly, and will also be included in the deluxe CD version of Adrian Thaws out September. >>>>