Singer Tricky has said that hip-hop music should take some responsibility for Britain’s gun culture.

Speaking to Uncut magazine, Tricky described the United Kingdom as “super-violent”, adding that he felt areas of America were now safer than the UK.

“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,” he said.

Tricky, whose real name is Adrian Thaws, also blamed wardrobes of today for the problem.

"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,” he said.

“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."

The singer’s comments come after another weekend of violence across the UK, which saw the death of Rob Knox, an actor in the forthcoming Harry Potter film.

He was fatally stabbed and five others wounded in an altercation outside the Metro pub in Sidcup.

(by Jason Gregory)