The Evolution of Robin Thicke

- Growing pains? I think not.


When I first made it to Hollywood, I became friends with someone who did pretty well in the competition. As with most friendships I've started with fellow musicians, it started off with a conversation about what our influences were. The first artist my friend gave me was Robin Thicke. I had heard the name but couldn't quite place it. So, in between Hollywood and top 24, I went to Best Buy and bought The Evolution of Robin Thicke, which my friend said was the better of Robin's two albums.

Now, I should start off by saying that jazzy r&b is usually not my thing. But going back to when I first started to discover music, BoyzIIMen, Shai, R. Kelly, Silk, Keith Sweat, etc. were my first love (along with a lot of rap). I know, you wouldn't know it now, but I actually learned to sing with r&b singers first. I would sing as loud as I could along with my mix tapes of r&b hits of the early 90's while delivering papers when I was 15, copying riffs, learning how to hear harmonies, etc. But by the time I got out of college, I had discovered rock & roll, and r&b kind of fell to the wayside (rap had fallen to the wayside when I was still in high school).

Anyway, all that to say - I'm not a huge fan of modern r&b. But this record is a great, great record. Robin is well-known in the pop/r&b world, writing songs for who's who of modern pop/r&b. But as an artist, he shines. Robin's silky falsetto is shown off throughout the entire CD, and his jazzy pop way of writing modern r&b is an interesting take on a genre. I didn't enjoy some of the collabarations on the album (with Pharell, Lil' Wayne, etc.), as they strayed more to the urban/hip hop vibe, but overall the album is a really fine record.

Lyrically it's sexy without being over the top or explicit. Robin's voice naturally lends itself to a sexy vibe, but there's more here than innuendo. Listen to what he's saying and he's talking wistfully about real love. Sometimes, he comes across as a little arrogant in his love (from the hit "Lost Without U": Lost without you/Can't help myself/How does it feel/ to know that I love you, baby), but overall he comes across with an earnestness that doesn't come out a lot in the genre.

A few of the songs seem to run together once you've listened to the album a few times, as the under-production of most of the songs (acoustic, rhythm progamming, bass, vocals) makes some of the songs indiscernable from each other. But there are some gems here. "Lost Without You" is a bona fide hit, "Angel" is a great song, and "2 the Sky" is a favorite. There are some misses, too, but for a second album, it's a great record.

I think that Robin will soon be known simply as an artist instead of Alan Thicke's son.

The CD gets 3.8 out of 5 stars.