For the past ten years, Robin Thicke has been playing the cut, penning songs for other pop artists whose careers were taking off while his remained at a standstill. After patiently waiting for tracks to explode on of his own, he ran into his biggest fan (and best publicist), Pharrell "I Design Pepsi Cans!" Williams. Now with his single "Lost Without You" blazing the Billboard charts and getting heavy spins on hip-hop radio, Thicke finds himself in the limelight. We caught up with the dude to talk about race matters, his mentor, all the JT comparisons and who he considers his true competition to be. Shooterrr.

Saidah Petrie

Why the decision to re-release The Evolution of Robin Thicke?

Robin Thicke: Actually, the re-release wasn't a re-release, so much as it was presentation of a deluxe edition of the album. The Evolution of Robin Thicke was already in the U.S. top ten in sales, so the record company thought it would be a good marketing ploy on Valentine's Day to include a poster and ringtones. So that was it, it was really just a record company decision.

Were any additional tracks added?

Robin Thicke: Three additional songs were made available for digital download. Originally, I made about 50 songs for the album, and those were three of the songs that didn't make the album prior, so I just added them for the fans. There were fans that had already had the album for months so I wanted to give them some new music.

Pharrell was quoted on your website as saying "Robin Thicke is going to change music." How do you feel about that?

Robin Thicke: Well, he does a lot of drugs obviously [Laughs]. I think what he means is because my music is about love and hope, and bringing people together, he's hoping that some of the boundaries of radio and some of the "what's black" and "what's white" will go away.  Hopefully, a little easier, because its music that brings people together.

So being a Star Trak artist then, did Pharrell have a lot of input on the direction of your album?

Robin Thicke: Actually, half of the album was done when he and I hooked up. Over the period of time, when I was making new songs, I would play them for him when I got to see him, and suggest feedback. But really he's been more of a guide or a mentor-a person whose main focus is putting interest back into the marketplace. He was the one going around telling everybody "You gotta hear Robin Thicke! You gotta hear Robin Thicke!" He started getting people to notice me and take interest in my music again. I owe all of this to him as much as anybody else. Home // CELEBRITIES // WEB EXCLUSIVE // Robin Thicke