Robin Thicke is Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter. Before performing at a recent Macy's event, he sat down with Windy City Times to talk Sex Therapy Nunn on One.
Windy City Times: Hi, Robin. I saw you in concert when you opened for Beyonce.
Robin Thicke: That was a great tour.
WCT: The women behind me were going crazy!
ROBIN THICKE: I love it!
WCT: So tell me about the new CD, Sex Therapy.
ROBIN THICKE: Sex Therapy follows that tradition of Marvin Gaye and of "Sexual Healing." It's that kind of emotion. As I was writing the song I was thinking what do women need when they are stressed out or overworked or wound up? They need Sex Therapy!
WCT: Don't we all…
ROBIN THICKE: The idea just popped in my head. My music is intimate. The title for this album being Sex Therapy lends itself to intimacy, the sex, the danger, also the togetherness of two people. My music is always about two people instead of just one.
WCT: The single sounds very inspired by Maxwell. What artists inspire you?
ROBIN THICKE: I love Maxwell. But I don't study him the way I do Prince. It is more of a Prince sound to me, or a Jodeci with the hard drums. Maxwell doesn't use those kind of drums. What you are hearing is probably the falsetto part but I have been singing in falsetto for a long time.
WCT: True. Your parents both sing; Gloria Loring and Alan Thicke composed many songs over the years. Did you always know you wanted to be in music?
ROBIN THICKE: Yeah, when I was like seven years old I could sing. I would do impersonations of Michael Jackson on the school bus. It becomes natural to you and then you think maybe I have an ability or talent. That all I have to do is keep working it. By the time I was twelve, I had taught myself to play. At sixteen I had a record deal and I writing and producing songs professionally and living on my own.
WCT: Then you made the jump into performing.
ROBIN THICKE: Actually I was a singer first. At 16 when I got the record deal the album wasn't great. Then I started writing songs for people like Brandy and Color Me Badd and all these artists that were at the top of the charts. I finally picked my head up and it had been five years and I had over twenty gold and platinum records for other artists. I was hiding because I think I was scared to put myself out there. When I was 21 I decided to work on my own album and a couple of years later I got to put an album out.
WCT: How did you team up with Hugo Boss for this event at Macy's?
ROBIN THICKE: I got a call that Hugo Boss and Macy's were teaming up and they asked me if I was interested. It happened to coincide perfectly with me releasing my new single. It was a win-win for everybody.
WCT: What are your goals of the future?
ROBIN THICKE: Goal for the future is world domination. [ Both laugh. ] No, really it is just about enjoying this process as much as possible and not taking it for granted. Enjoying the fact that people want to hear me sing, want to buy my songs and sign a piece of paper. I am really appreciative that anyone cares about what I am saying and doing that I don't want to lose that friendship with people right now.
WCT: Well, come back to Chicago on tour.
ROBIN THICKE: Oh I will. We will be here in December. I am going to promote the album with 10 shows. I will be doing radio here in a few weeks.
Sex Therapy drops Dec. 15 and Robin appears at the Riviera Theatre, 4750 N. Broadway, Dec. 12. Look for Queen Latifah to make her appearance at Macy's, 111 N. State, Nov. 28, at 3 p.m.
