 Tricky explained Maxinquaye 's title in an interview with Simon Reynolds : " Quaye , that 's this race of people in Africa , and ' <unk> , ' that 's my mum 's name , Maxine , and I 've just taken the E off " ; Reynolds interpreted this as a " place name " similar to the Rastafarian idea of Zion . In another source , Tricky was reported as saying Quaye had also been his mother 's surname . According to Greg Kot , his mother 's name provided the album its title while her suicide , along with his father abandoning him and Tricky 's lack of moral sense as a youth , helped inform his " unsentimental grasp on reality " , which was reflected in Maxinquaye 's " collision of beauty and violence " . In the opinion of Stylus Magazine 's Kenan Hebert , who called it " a document of obsession , mistrust , misconduct , solipsism , and <unk> " , the songs dealing with dysfunctional sexual relationships and fear of intimacy were given a Freudian angle by his mother 's influence on the album , including Tricky 's reference to her on " Aftermath " . In an interview for The Wire , Tricky explained his mother 's influence and his use of female vocalists like Topley @-@ Bird : " My first lyric ever on a song was ' your eyes resemble mine , you 'll see as no others can ' . I didn 't have any kids then ... so what am I talking about ? Who am I talking about ? My mother ... used to write poetry but in her time she couldn 't have done anything with that , there wasn 't any opportunity . It 's almost like she killed herself to give me the opportunity , my lyrics . I can never understand why I write as a female , I think I 've got my mum 's talent , I 'm her vehicle . So I need a woman to sing that . " 
