hiphoplives

I know that his pops is that corn ball from Growing Pains. I know that falsetto is the easiest way to fake soul. And I know that most of his fans like him because they think he’s “dreamy.” And his name is Robin. But damn it, I like good music. And the boy makes good music.

I never really got into that song that broke him big, “LostWithoutU”, but I had actually already heard about him when he was just known as Thicke. He put out an album and really didn’t do anything big, but he did get some credibility amongst critics. He had worked behind the scenes writing and composing for Usher, Marc Anthony, and Brandy, and his work ethic eventually got him a deal at StarTrak. Then came the sappy falsetto ballad of the year mentioned above, and wham, R. Thicke is a star, and the next J.Timberlake or the original Donnie Klang, depending on how you see things.

But his singles and popular persona aren’t really why I made Robin Thicke the guilty pleasure this week (although “Magic” is pretty good, and I dig the video). Really it’s all about those album cuts. He has a lot of soulful music and melodies, and since you can’t see him singing, you almost forget that he was the real Ben Seaver.

Now there are lots of good quality R&B records out this summer, and more to be released soon (Raphael Saadiq, Maxwell, John Legend), but none of them make me feel guilty about liking them like Thicke does. But if he keeps putting out solid albums full of good music, pretty soon I won’t feel any guilt at all. Keep it up Robin. Just don’t ever go back to that long haired hippy look.

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