//Neon Limelight Interview: Robin Thicke//

Robin Thicke is about to release his third album entitled Something Else, and something else he definitely is. He’s not Justin Timberlake, so don’t expect him to be. About the only thing they share alike is porceline skin and eyes the color of a bright and sunny September afternoon sky. Yeah, they both have a love for soul music, but only one of them fully embodies what it truly means to have blue-eyed soul on and off the stage.

Something Else will follow-up the platinum selling album The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The lead single from Evolution, “Lost Without You,” undeniably became one of the biggest hits of Thicke’s career and of 2007. Thicke is looking for lightening to strike again with the release of his new single; the slick R&B with a hint of disco confection is sure to have everyone believing in, well, ”Magic.”

Find out about Robin’s new album, going on tour with Mary J. Blige, and what the story behind that controversial comment about Vibe magazine is really about in this Neon Limelight exclusive interview.

Right in the THICKE of it

TJ: So, your comments in Billboard regarding the cover of Vibe magazine are really blowing up all over the internet. Do you feel that people are kind of blowing it out of proportion?

RT: No. I think it’s a conversation that needs to be had. I think the important part of the conversation is, first of all, to acknowledge that Vibe never said anything themselves. These were my buddies who told me, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white person on [the cover of] Vibe,” and then the conversation got into race. What we need to acknowledge is how come the other hundred magazines on the rack won’t have an African-American on them. That’s why magazines like Vibe, Essence, and Ebony were created so African-Americans and other people of other ethnicities can have an opportunity to show their talents and their greatness because they’re not being shown in the other magazines. I’m not the victim of this whole situation.

TJ: How do you feel about people calling it, on Vibe’s part, “reverse racism,” and how do you feel about that term?

RT: Racism is about infrastructure. I think, and I’ve had this conversation with people smarter than me, I think it’s impossible for people to be racist against a white person. Because….how can you be racist against a white person in America?! How can you? How can you slow down their journey? How can you stop them from rising? It’s the imbalance of that that you can’t call it reverse racism because it’s not equal opportunity. If it was equal opportunity then it could be reserve racism. If there’s an even playing field then we can say that it’s racism on the other side. But it’s not even, so you can’t be racist against that.

TJ: That’s awesome that you don’t feel that you were discriminated against.

RT: No, I wasn’t discriminated against. I’ve got a lot more opportunities just by the color of my skin than a lot of the other people in that magazine would, so I have to understand that and understand my place in society.

TJ: How do you feel about the people that say, “Oh, well now he knows how black people feel,”? How do you feel about those comments?

RT: I think that they’re warranted. I think that that’s what I’m talking about. That’s exactly what this should be about. What about all the African-Americans who can’t get into that [mainstream magazine]? That’s what it’s really about.

On To ‘Something Else’

TJ: We can switch gears and talk about this album, Something Else, coming out September 30. Did you go into this album knowing you had to top The Evolution… or was it just completely organic?

RT: I go into every album trying to top the previous and I will always. I mean, it’s my job. If I don’t do that, then the people aren’t getting what they deserve. It’s just like loving your woman better. You gotta keep trying to do it right. You gotta listen to her and whatever mistakes you made before don’t make them again.

TJ: How long did you work on this record?

RT: About six months but I had songs that I had been writing–one here, one there because I’m always writing in my days inbetween. So, when I started the album I had about four songs ready and then I took about six months to work on them and finish the album.

TJ: Were there any songs left off of The Evolution that you put on this one?

RT: “Tie My Hands.” I had saved “Tie My Hands” because Lil Wayne said that he wanted to put it on his next album, so I waited on it because it was about New Orleans and [Hurricane] Katrina and he’s from New Orleans. I thought it needed to be represented by somebody from there and it just worked out perfectly and it’s one of my favorite songs that’s why I put it on my new album, too.

TJ: “A Beautiful World” is an amazing album, but it’s still pretty obscure to a lot of music fans. Did you ever think to revamp a few songs off there and put them on any of your albums that followed?

RT: Well, I did that with “Shooter” on the last album and there are a couple of nice songs that Jimmy Iovine wants to remix it or repackage it and put it back out and all that stuff. So, there’s still a lot of love in the industry for that album and I would love for more people to get it in their hands and enjoy it. But, I’ve gotta keep moving forward also.

TJ: Definitely. So, it took people a little while to catch onto “Magic.” Were you ever afraid that people weren’t going to catch on at all?

RT: No. I mean, there are still people who like “Magic” better than anything else that I’ve done and there are people who like “Lost Without You.” It’s not my job…you can’t make “What’s Going On” every time. [Laughs] Even Marvin [Gaye] couldn’t do it.

TJ: The video for “Magic” is freakin’ sick. I love it.

RT: Thank you.

TJ: Did you come up with the concept? How did you work it out?

RT: Yeah. Actually, my lady [wife Paula Patton] came up with most of the ideas and a friend of mine named Brad Digital from New York came up with the Fred Astaire stuff. He emailed me this Fred Astaire footage then I tried to mix in the Fred Astraire stuff with what my wife had come up with and it became pretty cool.

TJ: The remix to “Magic” with Mary J. Blige is amazing. How did that come about?

RT: Well, it was Andre Harrell, my mentor, was in New York City and he had seen Mary and [Blige's husband] Kendu and they said, “We’re going on tour for a little while,” and he was like, “Hey, you should go out with Robin cus he’s got his album coming out,” blah blah blah and she’s like, “That’d be perfect.” And then a week later we were in the studio to do a little remix to “Magic” because we thought it’d be great to get our energy out there to promote the tour. Anything working with her is just an honor.

TJ: Yeah, she’s incredible.

RT: Yeah, she is.

TJ: And that was exactly my next question…how the tour came about…

RT: Yeah, it all came about in the same night pretty much just from Andre putting one and two together. You know, Andre signed both of us. [Laughs]

TJ: What can we expect from your show on this tour? Last year you went out with Beyoncé, that show was amazing. I have to tell you, I saw it three times and you were incredible.

RT: Oh, that’s so cool! Thank you!

TJ: I’m a certified fan! [Laughs]

RT: Thank you for saying that. That’s great.

TJ: Is there anything from that show that you learned that you’ll take into this one?

RT: Yeah, you always learn to just have more songs that the audience will love and sing along with and jam to. You just want to give them–you want to express yourself, but you want to connect in the end.

TJ: Do you think Beyoncé’s fanbase was receptive to your music?

RT: When I was there, at least from what I heard, people told me that it was very well received.

TJ: Are there any changes you think you could have made to [your set] on that tour?

RT: No, cus I didn’t have the songs. You gotta have more albums and more music to be able to move it around more. What I did was I always tried to just pick the songs to put on the best show. Even now every night I change the show depending on the room or the city cus sometimes it’s different.

TJ: I’m hearing that “The Sweetest Love” is the second single. Can you confirm that?

RT: Yes.

TJ: So it definitely is?

RT: Definitely.

TJ: It is freakin’ incredible! It reminds me of something Stevie Wonder would do.

RT: Oh cool! Excellent!

TJ: Love it!

RT: I’m so glad you like it.

TJ: I honestly have to say I really don’t see its place on radio.

RT: Yeah, you know, that’s not my job. I make music I love and people like it. It doesn’t always work in formats.

TJ: Exactly. Are you ever concerned about how your music will be perceieved on the radio?

RT: Well, actually we went with “The Sweetest Love” because all of the radio people said that it was their favorite. [Laughs]

TJ: [Laughs] OK!

RT: Yeah, and the response this week has been tremendous on it, so I have a feeling that every once in a while–that’s what they thought with “Lost Without You.” No one knew where it would turn up on radio then they started it in Washington DC and in Atlanta and next thing you know it’s the most played R&B/Hip Hop song of the year, so you never know when the public is going to connect.

TJ: How do you measure the success of your albums?

RT: Uhh, that’s hard to say because we always have high hopes. We all want to be as popular and as beloved as Michael Jackson, but I’m not going to sell my self or change or be something I’m not. I’d rather just be me and hope people like what they hear.

TJ: Does record sales matter to you?

RT: Oh, of course! Because that means the people spent their hard earned money. You know, there’s a fine line between really liking an artist and liking their songs and wanting to spend your hard earned money on it.

_________

Robin Thicke’s new album Something Else will be in stores September 30. More more information on Robin visit his official site www.robinthicke.com or myspace page www.myspace.com/robinthicke

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