Robin Thicke

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Before his days performing as a singer-songwriter, Thicke had written “Love Is on My Side” on Brandy‘s eponymous album and a number of songs for 3T‘s Brotherhood and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight’s 1999 album Jordan Knight. He also co-wrote the songs “When You Put Your Hands on Me” for Christina Aguilera‘s debut album and “No Tears on My Pillow” for Mýa‘s sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, he co-wrote the song “Fall Again” with Walter Afanasieff, which used to be a track in Michael Jackson’s 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.

2002–04: Early commercial success

In 2000, Thicke, who simply went by his last name, went to work on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies.

In 2002, Thicke released his debut single “When I Get You Alone“. The track samples Walter Murphy‘s “A Fifth of Beethoven“, which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET‘s Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number forty-nine on Radio & Records Pop chart.^{[citation needed]} Globally, however, “When I Get You Alone” became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.^[6] The tune was featured for the soundtrack of Agent Cody Banks.^{[citation needed]}

The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, “Brand New Jones”, the album received very little promotion, and debuted at only number one hundred fifty two on the Billboard 200 albums chart, eventually selling 63,000 copies.^[7]

Runner-up Blake Lewis performed “When I Get You Alone” during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode “Silly Love Songs”.^{[citation needed]}

2005–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke

In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith‘s song, “Switch“. After being signed to The Neptunes label, Star Trak, he began working on his second album titled The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, “Wanna Love U Girl“, featured producer Pharrell and experienced chart success on urban radio in the United Kingdom. For the video, Thicke changed his appearance, cutting off his trademark long hair. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album Thicke toured with India.Arie, and then opened for John Legend in late 2006.

His second single, the ballad “Lost Without U“, began getting a lot of radio airplay in Urban & Rhythmic stations towards the end of 2006 and early 2007.^{[citation needed]} With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching as high as number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the first Caucasian male artist to top that chart since George Michael.^[8] With album sales over 1.5 million copies sold domestically after the re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart,^[7] garnering Thicke his first R&B number one album of his career. In early 2007 the single “Lost Without U” and album The Evolution of Robin Thicke simultaneously spent two consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B singles and albums charts respectively. On the March 3, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke simultaneously topped four Billboard charts; Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Hot Adult R&B Airplay.^{[citation needed]} In March 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA.^{[citation needed]} Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album’s next and third single. Thicke’s preference was the track “Can U Believe“, which peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs]and at number ninety-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[8][9] On October 2, 2007 the track “Got 2 Be Down” was released as the album’s fourth official single. The single peaked at number sixty on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.^[8]

In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé‘s US tour, The Beyoncé Experience.^[10] Thicke also performed a one off UK concert at Koko in London on September 24, 2007. As of February 10, 2009, the album was certified Double-Platinum by the RIAA.

2008–10: Something Else and Sex Therapy

Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008.^[12] It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold nearly 140,000 records the first week.^[13] The first single from the album was “Magic” a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. “Magic” went on to peak at number two on the Urban AC charts and number fifty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[14] He followed this success with the second single, “The Sweetest Love“, which also peaked at number two on the Urban AC charts and remained in the top five for twelve consecutive weeks.^{[citation needed]}

During an interview to promote his third album, Thicke explained that:

Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC‘s The Bachelor to perform “Magic” and “The Sweetest Love” for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred.^[16] He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi.^[17] At the start of the tour, Thicke released “Dreamworld” as the official third single from Something Else.^[17] As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.

Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, which would not be self-produced.^[17] The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. Jay-Z is featured on the track “Meiple (Me I Play)”. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don and released in October 2009. The lead single for international markets was “Rollacosta” featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was “t’s in the Mornin'” featuring Snoop Dogg. “Shakin’ It for Daddy”, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, it’s release was eventually cancelled.

Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – “I’m always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my HIP HOP side. I grew up listening to Run DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z… So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.”^[18] Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester‘s debut single “Somebody to Love“, featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he was glad to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne’s last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. “We’re kind of good luck charms for each other.”^{[citation needed]}

Thicke appeared on ABC‘s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on January 1, 2010 and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States.^[19]

2011–12: Love After War and Duets

During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009.^[20] Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011.^[21] The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family:

The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, “Love After War” released on October 11, 2011 and has peaked at number fourteen on the “Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs” chart and topped “Urban AC” making it his second song after “Lost Without U” to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consist of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight. The second single is “Pretty Lil’ Heart”, which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the “Whitney Houston” classic “Exhale (Shoop Shoop”). The third official single is “All Tied Up” which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012 on “Vevo“.

In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring against Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee’s Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller.^[23]

Thicke is appearing as a judge on a new ABC television show called Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also features John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson.^[4] The judges double as mentors who search for singers across the country (Robin Thicke’s singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants.

2013–present: Blurred Lines

On March 26, 2013, Thicke released “Blurred Lines” featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M’Bengue, and Elle Evans, was released on March 20, 2013 and garnered more than a million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.^[24]

As Robin explained to the Breakfast Club, “The album is called Blurred Lines. I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older that we all think we’re living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, ‘Damn, I don’t know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.’ So I think that, that’s what I’ve been realizing these past few years.”^[25]

The singer also explained his foray into a more poppy sound than his usual milieu. “The last year I’ve been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,” Robin explained. “And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.” The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark,^[26] and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.^[27]

The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture,^[28] with some critics going so far as to call the lyrics “creepy” and the song “kind of rapey”.^[29][30] In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video saying, “What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I’ve never gotten to do that before. I’ve always respected women.”^[31] Video director Diane Martel was asked on an interview if Thicke’s statement in GQ that “the idea was to be ‘derogatory towards women'” was discussed on set, to which she responded, “That’s crazy. Maybe he wasn’t thinking when he said that.”^[32][33] The song’s unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.^[31][34] Thicke claimed that he, T.I., and Pharrell were poking fun at how modern pop music has become so derogatory toward women.

On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed “Blurred Lines” with Miley Cyrus, followed by Give It 2 U with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar.^[35] The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness,^[36] sexism,^[37] racism,^[38] slut-shaming,^[38] and cultural appropriation.^[39][40] It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé‘s Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier.^[41][42]

Artistry

Songwriting and producing

Thicke began his songwriting career by writing hits for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd hit “Sexual Capacity” in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. The Thicke original “When I Get You Alone” was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. “When I Get You Alone” was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single “Angels Brought Me Here“; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an Aria record.^[43] In 2004, Thicke co-wrote “Out With My Baby” with Guy Sebastian, from Sebastian’s second album, Beautiful Life. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian.^[44] During this same year, he wrote a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song “Set Me Free”.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2007, Thicke co-wrote “Wrong for You” with singer/songwriter Angela Via. In 2008, he was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track, “Love in This Club“.^[45] Thicke wrote and produced the song “Tie My Hands” on Tha Carter III, which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song “Giving Myself” for the album Jennifer Hudson, which went on to win Best R&B Album.^{[citation needed]}

Collaborations

In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent‘s album Curtis, which was released on September 11, 2007, on a song called “Follow My Lead“. The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration, which was released on June 3, 2008.^[9][10] Also that year, Thicke reunited with Lil Wayne and was featured on his album Tha Carter III on a track titled “Tie My Hands”, which Thicke also produced. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly‘s Untitled on the track “Pregnant” which also features Tyrese and The-Dream.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

• A Beautiful World (2003)
• The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006)
• Something Else (2008)
• Sex Therapy (2009)
• Love After War (2011)
• Blurred Lines (2013)