Maxinquaye is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky (pictured), released on 20 February 1995. By the time he recorded the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the group Massive Attack and had 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 predominant vocalist. 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 late mother Maxine Quaye, after whom the album is titled. The album has sold 500,000 copies worldwide and has ranked frequently on greatest-album lists, being viewed as a significant influence on electronica, underground, and British hip hop.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxinquaye

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1816:

Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's opera buffa The Barber of Seville was hissed at by the audience during its debut at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville

1846:

Polish insurgents led an uprising in the Free City of Kraków to incite a fight for national independence that was put down by the Austrian Empire nine days later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_uprising

1864:

American Civil War: The Union suffered one of its bloodiest losses at the Battle of Olustee near Lake City, Florida. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Olustee

1943:

A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of Michoacán and turned into the cinder cone volcano Parícutin, which continued to erupt for nine years, growing 424 m (1,391 ft). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin

1988:

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_War

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

down but not out: Temporarily incapacitated but not permanently defeated. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/down_but_not_out

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

You just never know. You drift along, year after year, presuming certain values to be fixed; like being able to drive on a public thoroughfare without somebody trying to murder you. You came to depend on that sort of thing. Then something occurs and all bets are off. One shocking incident and all the years of logic and acceptance are displaced and, suddenly, the jungle is in front of you again. Man, part animal, part angel.   --Richard Matheson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson