"Blue Lines" featured breakbeats, sampling, and rapping on a number of tracks, but the design of the album differed from common hip hop. Massive Attack approached the American-born hip hop movement from an underground British perspective, as well as incorporating live instruments into the mixes. It features the vocals of Shara Nelson and Horace Andy, along with the rapping of Tricky Kid. "Blue Lines" proved to be popular in the club scene, as well as on college radio stations.