Tricky attacks hip-hop for fuelling gun crime

Bristol-based musician Tricky has strongly criticised hip-hop for fuelling gun and knife crime adding that he believed some parts of the UK were now worse than the Bronx.
Tricky, who rose to prominence during the early nineties as one of the first 'trip-hop' stars, told Uncut magazine: "I love hip-hop. But it has to take some responsibility for the gun culture we've got over here. We're getting super-violent. You can walk around the Bronx for days on end and nobody bothers you.
"In England, you can say the wrong thing in a pub and, before you know it, you've got a bottle over your head or a bullet in your brain. English people have got quicker tempers."
The 40-year-old star, whose real name is Adrian Thaws, added that he believed the lack of creativity in fashion around the genre meant that hip hop's image was tied to violence.
He said: "What have they got to get them through hard times? We had punk rock and ska and bands that made you feel you could do anything. We were into clothes in a big way. Anything to take our minds off the stress.
"They don't have to think about getting dressed. They get the baseball cap and trainers on, that's all it is.
"But they've got nothing to take the pressure off. That's maybe why they're more violent than we were. That and the fact they have access to serious artillery. We used to throw stones at each other. Now they shoot bullets at each other. Hip-hop has got a lot to do with that."