Songfacts®:

• Tricky recorded this cover of Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" for his 1995 debut album, Maxinquaye. The song features Martina Topley-Bird on vocals, Tricky's collaborator and girlfriend at the time.
• "Black Steel" is a very different interpretation of the original song. The testosterone-laden bravado of Public Enemy's lyrics are transformed by Topley-Bird's singing, resulting in something delicate and almost fragile.
  
  "I got frustrated back in the day because the lyrics of rappers like Rakim, Slick Rick and Chuck D were so good, yet they got put in their box because they were rappers," he told The Guardian. "I wanted Martina, a female, to sing it to show my appreciation."
• Pounding drums and guitars replace the stripped-down sound of the original. The beat originated from a cassette of 1980s Indian music that Tricky received from his ex-girlfriend's mother. Producer Mark Sanders then blended this with additional backing from the techno-rock band FTV.
• The only discernible vocal contribution from Tricky is the verse, where he repeats, "Many switch in, switch on, switch off."
• "Black Steel" was the first single to hit the streets after Maxinquaye was released in early 1995. It peaked at #28 in the UK and #101 in Australia.
• Tricky has met Chuck D on several occasions. The Public Enemy leader has never commented on Tricky's version of their song, but Tricky thinks he appreciates he did it.