The most obvious thing that could’ve spurred an Inside The Credits dive into the three decade R&B instrumental escapades of Tricky Stewart is Tyla’s “Water.” The song earned the South African budding star the first ever Best African Performance Grammy and Stewart was an essential composer on the track. If you go back just a bit in her catalog you can hear “Been Thinking.” This is where Tyla first finds the distinctness of the Apopiano (Amapiano + Pop) sound which would lift her into “Water.” Stewart is the main producer on that track and used his R&B core as the bridge between the two genres.
All of this said, it was on my favorite song on R&B crooner Arin Ray’s 2023 Ep Phases III, “Wait So Long,” which triggered my intrigue. There is a set of buoyant yet guttural synths that provide the yearn beneath Ray’s sleek charisma that grabbed my ear more than almost any other singular production element last year. This is what brought me to an Instagram follow, which brought me to Tyla’s “Water,” which was just catching Tik Tok steam. To have forward pushing sonic resonance like this when your career began in the mid 90s is remarkable.
This will be the first Inside The Credits where the dissection gets separated into decades. As Stewart’s first official crediting arrives in 1994, that makes three even ten year sections up to last year. For each decade, I will break down an overarching view of his sonic impact based entirely on the songs where he had a hand in the production. I will track how he moved with, as well as shifted, the sound of R&B music as we know it.
Author’s Note 1: Tricky has some incredible Hip Hop and Pop songs he’s credited for producing, but the impetus for this piece was the depth of his R&B musicality. So, to keep it focused I will stay in that lane of analysis.
“Finding The Yearn, Blending In, Then Finding The Glisten” 1994-2003
It’s important to note that Christopher “Tricky” Stewart’s rise comes with a partner in sound in Sean “Sep” Hall, but also under the tutelage of Chris “Babyface” Evans and Antonio “L.A.” Reid. One of Tricky and Sep’s first credits is actually as studio personnel and remixers for a track by Bobby Brown. Where they are first heard separating themselves though is on eight tracks total for two different 1994 R&B albums: Front Page by Front Page and For You by London Jones. One Tricky produced or composed track from each album immediately brought me back to the original sound that caught my ear: the synths for Arin Ray. On “Come To Papa” for Front Page and “Baby Get Yours Tonight” for London Jones the vibrant and waning synths begin Tricky’s impeccable ability to capture yearning.
Babyface is, of course, a master of the keys and synthesizer and added them to many classic R&B tracks of the 80s and 90s for himself and others. His superpower with the instruments is to use them to add layers of seductive romance. A classic example of this is the Boyz II Men classic 1994 single “I’ll Make Love To You.” On the track, the synthesizer evokes the moment right before the passion is about to initiate. Tricky’s signature synths shift that feeling from a want to a need, featuring a symmetrical rhythm to an unrelenting craving.
Tricky is an essential part of the movement in the 90s that people constantly comment on Twitter about missing: when R&B singers began to fervently beg for love. He aligns with producers like Davanté Swing on Jodeci’s “My Heart Belongs To You” where the mood went from passion to sacrifice. Tricky’s synths, though, contain an elevated level of gyration. From 1994 to 2024 he always found moments to play his keys and synths with the feel of Hendrix holding that piercing note in a guitar solo.
For the rest of the 90s, after that initial burst in ‘94, Tricky became more of a crew member as a part of a ranging R&B/Hip-Hop recording team under L.A. Reid. He was adding textures as a part of a whole instead of finding his own signature to mold Tricky-driven hits. He had to blend in, in order to eventually stand out. Where you can feel him reemerge is on the first project he’s credited on that reminded me of Tyla’s “Water.” On Tamar Braxton’s Tamar, not only do you hear the first burst of shiny sensuality on “Can’t Nobody,” but you also hear rhythms that are slightly adjacent to Afrobeats stylings at the beginning of “The Way it Should Be.” Tricky found another way he could make a singular sonic impact here and the glisten he gave to Braxton would translate into his first big moment carrying the majority of an impactful R&B album. Yet, what would really set it off was adding some of the elements of drive from his early synths through another instrument.
Most people know Blu Cantrell from “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops),” which is produced by the legendary Dallas Austin. Yet, that track sits within a masterfully crafted album, So Blu, on which Tricky crafted the shimmery aesthetic producing on eight of thirteen tracks mostly on his own. When you hear a track like “The One,” Cantrell’s desire for a life partner cuts through Tricky’s flickering background key/bell plucks and undercurrent sparse synths. I haven’t ever heard a Tyla to Blu Cantrell comparison, but nothing sounds more accurate when you hear singles like this one. Then when you move to a song like “U Must Be Crazy,” it’s the first time Tricky’s production features a prominent electric guitar. He discovered a way to control the chaos of his synth impulses to capture the emotional state of betrayal. Then he uses his influence of Babyface style keys to solidify the composition. This song’s depth of delivery exemplifies Tricky hitting on all cylinders.
What would result from this culmination of Tricky’s first decade is a set of three songs produced from 2001 to 2003 that prove the potential of his range once he could balance the yearn and the glisten. “Homewrecker” by Sisqo takes on the theme of danger translating the yearn to guilt through a Latin guitar rhythm, “Uh Huh” by B2K brings the synths back with finesse creating a more seductive version of pining, and “Case of the Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do)” by Mya gave Tricky his first timeless hit with elevated glistening vocals atop a Pop R&B dance floor vibe of staccato synthy sass.
“The Songs and Moments of the Decade and ‘The Dream’ That Gave Them Heart” 2004-2013
Let’s jump straight from ‘03 to ‘08 when Tricky produced the biggest song for the biggest artist in the world: “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” for Beyoncé. There are three producers listed in the credits: Beyoncé herself, Tricky, and Terius “The Dream” Nash. This marks the fourth nicknamed sonic companion with an everlasting effect on Tricky. What becomes even more remarkable about this is the year before he produced “Umbrella” for Rihanna with The Dream on the lyrics. This then traces back to earlier in ‘07 when Tricky helped give The Dream the biggest hit of his solo career still in “Falsetto.” While there are a few rogue credits between ‘04 to ‘08 it’s more of a downtime to set up his epic three single explosion which defined an era of his impact.
Author’s Note 2: Usher’s “Moving Mountains,” which would be criminal not to mention, was also co-produced by The Dream and Tricky between “Umbrella” and “Single Ladies,” but it sort of ruins my “things happen in threes” thing I got going here so…
As soon as you press play on “Falsetto,” two sounds immediately pull your ear into the vibe: a bouncing yet husky synth and a stretching guitar full of yearning. The Dream has as floaty vocals as anyone within the R&B space. When combined with Tricky’s growling instrumental superpower, it simply made magic and the most successful song of his solo career before or after.
This moment led to an expansion of Tricky’s instrumental impact. Both “Umbrella” and “Single Ladies” are as anthemic a song as either Rihanna or Beyoncé have ever put out. The Dream identified Tricky’s ability to capture the yearn and transformed its guttural weight into a more heart centered pulse. For Rihanna it was anticipatory and steady and for Beyoncé it was more excited and driving.
During the rest of the decade he would produce other songs for both Rihanna and Beyoncé that brought him back to his roots with expanded range. Both of which, of course, he co-produced with The Dream. “Hard” by Rihanna is almost an Industrial Pop Song with Hip Hop and R&B elements. This is Tricky taking away any prettiness to make a fully gut centered “Umbrella” part two. “1+1” is many people's sleeper favorite Beyoncé song. On the track, Tricky provides a space for Queen B to fit her own yearn within The Dream’s completely heart centered writing. His shimmery synths, anthemic keys, and ruminating electric guitar display some of his best production ever on a song.
The story of the rest of Tricky’s second decade can be summed up in another set of three hits. “Obsessed” by Mariah Carey takes the anthemic glittery R&B sound he built up through Blu Cantrell, then Mya, then Rihanna and makes it as Pop as it’s ever been to wrap around Carey’s Eminem clapback. Then just when you think it couldn’t get any more Pop, but still have some R&B speckles, he produces Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” There is no song that still feels a bit R&B, but further from where Tricky’s influence began. It then makes complete sense that in 2011 he produced one of the first hits to define the Alternative R&B movement for the 2010s marking a new era, Frank Ocean’s “Novacane.” He still kept the yearn in his synths here, but added some more drug fueled atmosphere with warbling undertones.
“A Reset To Re-Find The Spark” 2014-2023
Besides Tyla’s “Water,” Tricky’s most significant single of the past decade has been Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.” That said, that song feels as if it represents much more of him going back with someone for old times sake than the progressive energy that created the moments which sparked this deep dive. Within the last ten years, there’s been much more sporadic credits that have displayed some proving grounds that brought him back to the London Jones synths for Arin Ray or the glittery Tamar Braxton R&B arrangements for Tyla. He took his cue from the success and fulfillment of “Novacane” and experimented until he found his way back to his pocket.
The first credits of significance this decade are for R&B singer Justine Skye’s Roc Nation debut in 2016, 8 Ounces. The project underperformed coming off the heels of her breakout singles “Collide” and “U Don’t Know,” however you can feel Tricky intriguingly trying to navigate more Alternative arrangements. On the most popular track on the project “Agenda,” he attempts to fuse sharp key hits, sparse pops of synths, and rolling drums with unexpected genre twisting transitions. It sounds like Tricky proactively trying to find his footing within a new sonic space. It never quite locks into a necessary fluidity, but feels like an exhibition of potential.
Next, there’s a trio of singles by Alt R&B crooner Ro James from 2018 to 2020 that represent the next progression of Tricky’s experimental realization. Once again, he works in threes. “Devotion” is the first one and feels the most directly tied to the atmosphere he created on “Novacane.” The song was released as part of an ep called Smoke and fittingly feels cloudy. Much like the Justine Skye tracks, it also has both sharp keys and random popping synths. It still feels a bit strange, but within the overcast, something emerges with a bit more satisfaction. Then later in 2018, James dropped the Tricky produced “Excuse Me,” which adds a bit of a dancier element. The clouds turn to mist and he counterbalances James’ rasp with a bit more crystalline purity. Then, for the grand finale, he combines the essences of the first two tactfully in “Rose.” The smokey mist becomes a storm in the sunlight and the synth/guitar in the hook gives the undertone of yearn both James and Tricky desperately needed. The addictiveness of the Arin Ray “Wait So Long” production feels categorically tied to this production epiphany.
Tricky had one more proving ground producing “Baddie” for Jacksonville, Florida singer MK xyz, which helped him shape an ability to fuse his Pop R&B ability with a more Afrobeat leaning rhythm. He then linked with Tyla and we got the luminescence of “Been Thinking” and “Water.” Tricky’s production journey seems defined by one repeated process: redirecting and experimenting to find the more updated version of the same feeling. If he continues to do so, the yearn will remain eternal.
Author’s Note 3: Now that I’m done, it just kills me to not have mentioned the most random and funny crediting I found on this search. Tricky wrote and composed on Weird Al’s Lady Gaga parody “Polka Face.” Also, in honor of Tricky I had to do my author’s notes in three.
Inside The Credits 008: Tricky Stewart- The Playlists