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The Evolution of Robin Thicke is the second studio album by American recording artist Robin Thicke, released on October 3, 2006 through a joint venture between Star Trak Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album is the follow-up to the singer's 2003 album A Beautiful World, which was received with positive response from music critics, but ended as a commercial failure. With feelings of insecurity about ever having a commercial success, Thicke started to work once again for others music artists as his own singing career was going trough what he described as a "stalemate."

Thicke's personal feelings were all channeled into the album's lyrical content, as hopelessness and loss were considered the album's main themes. However, other themes such as sexuality and social change were also present. Musically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke did not present such genre diversity as did A Beautiful World, though a main dissemblance between both albums could be noted by Thicke's more softness approach—e.g., the constant usage of the singer's falsetto, noted by professional critics, who generally gave the album a positive response, though claiming that it did not present a strong or notable distinctiveness compared to other R&B albums.

Though the album saw a low start on the charts, it slowly ascended on the Billboard 200, accompanying the crescent success  of the second single "Lost Without U" until it reached its peak of number five on March 2007, after having debuted at number 45 back in October 2006 and topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), The Evolution of Robin Thicke has sold an estimated 1,5 million copies in the United States.

Background
In 2003, Thicke released his debut album A Beautiful World. The album encompassed a broad range of genres, including pop, rock, r&b, and neo-soul and was received with a critical acclaim. Nevertheless, its commercial performance were considered a disappointment as fewer than 75,000 copies were sold in total as of 2008. "It was disappointing," spoke Thicke. "I was wondering if people liked me, if I was cool enough, talented enough, sexy enough." He confessed that his label had lost its faith in the possibility of Thicke ever having a commercial success as they were refusing to pay for studio time and musicians to work on a possible sophomore album. Further issues between him and his label, such as creative disagreements, led to what he described as a "stalemate" for almost 10 months.

Thicke—who was first known as a songwriter and record producer for others music artists before pursuing his own singing career—began to write and produce once again for others at that time, eventually earning a Grammy Award nomination for his work in fellow R&B singer Usher's album Confessions (2004). It was during this time that American record producer and rapper Pharrell Williams was finishing a deal between his own label, Star Trak Entertainment, and Interscope Records, the imprint where Thicke had been signed. Williams was a fan of Thicke's early work, and when asked by Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine who he wanted to sign in his new-founded label deal, Thicke was his first answer. Williams then persuaded the label to let Thicke sign with his imprint, succeeding it afterward. They soon had a meeting where Thicke showed new songs he had already been working, being received with a positive response from Williams. As Thicke was already working on his second album, Iovine suggested that the pair should work together, which ultimately was what they started to do.

Recording and production
Fellow Interscope artist, the U2 frontman Bono met Thicke at the label's office and, after hearing the material that was brought by Thicke, suggested that he and Williams should travel to Miami to work together on new material. The result was "Wanna Love U Girl," the only song on the album which was not produced by Thicke and collaborator Pro J, but by Williams' record production duo The Neptunes, comprised of Williams and record producer Chad Hugo. Williams described the work with Thicke as a "great experience." "This kid doesn't need anybody. Kid makes art," commended Williams.

""Working with Pharrell, you don't want to be the one to fuck it all up. [...] He has so many great records with so many other people, you don't want to be the reason why he didn't make a great record. You feel a little pressure as an artist. Especially for me, since I write and produce my own music. Going in with him, I didn't want to be the buzz kill.""

- Thicke on working with Pharrell Williams.

Thicke and R&B singer–songwriter Faith Evans were writing songs for a new Evans' album when they came with "Got 2 Be Down." He enjoyed the track so much that he asked to put it on his album, with Evans featured on it. "Shooter," featuring American rapper Lil Wayne, is a song which first appeared in Thicke's A Beautiful World when Wayne asked to put on his 2005 album Tha Carter II. The rapper elaborated, "I just did my hip-hop remix of it [and] I prayed [Thicke would] let me have it, and he did," comparing the collaboration to that between hard rock group Aerosmith and hip-hop group Run–D.M.C. Thicke then listened the final rap version and decided to put simultaneously on his second album. The Williams' guest appearance in "Wanna Love U Girl," was something not assured initially by neither of them. "He didn't want to wreck the purity of the music I was making on my own," explained Thicke. It was when Jimmy Iovine requested the collaboration that it eventually happened. When speaking about all of those collaboration, Thicke expressed, "It’s never conscious. It’s always organic of what sounds the best and what happened when I wrote the song."

In a June 2006 interview, Thicke revealed that although the album was already finished and had a planned release date—September 2006—he eventualy went back to studio and recorded more songs. The album that was going to be released in January 2006 ended up having nine different songs when it was ultimately released on October. "It was a better album," Thicke recognizes. "Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes what we think is holding us back is really just creating an opportunity for us to be even better."

Music and lyrics
Thicke estimated that he wrote almost 50 songs for the album, "from fun and happy and sexy to sad and depressing to overcoming sad and depressing," as he described them. The lackluster performance of A Beautiful World served as a influence to much of the lyrical content in the album; "Complicated," "Can U Believe," "I Need Love," "2 the Sky" and "Angels" were all songs written about "broken-hearted loneliness and hopelessness." "Lost Without U" is also a primary example of those feelings, "Feeling like you aren't good enough for anything, and turning to your woman and exposing yourself, and telling her that without her you may not have anything left," the singer explained. Thicke would go and write exactly what he was living at that time, turning this process into something "healing" to him, as those lyrics had helped the singer go trough "all of [his] toughest times," with Thicke believing that it would have the same effect with the listeners.

However, not only hope and insecurity were themes for the album's lyrics. A Houston Chronicle writer commented, "[Thicke sings] personal songs about loneliness and frustration but also love and sexuality and social change." Both "Teach U a Lesson" and "All Night Long" features more sexual contents, the former in particular, where the singer "explains how his student can 'earn some extra credit.'" Thicke expressed that "Teach U a Lesson" is one of his favorite songs to perform on stage because "[i]t’s sexy and the girls scream a lot." "Would That Make U Love Me" also touches on social issues, with the lines "If I'm a different color / Could you be my brother?" as does "Shooter," the track which was first featured on Thicke's previous album which contains a "anti-gun" theme, inspired by a bank robbery experience suffered by Thicke himself. "These guys came in with guns and pointed them right at my head and I got on the floor." said Thicke. "The whole song is about 'My hands are up, don't shoot! No shooter. No guns.' That's what the song is about: No more guns."

Critical response
When reviewing for PopMatters, Steven J. Horowitz noted that Thicke had adopted a more “soft 'n' sensitive” musical style, which led to what he described "spicy to milky" tracks. "Evolution is a typical yet syrupy offering of blue-eyed soul, with songs that are far from breaking new ground but instead propagate what other R&B artists [...] have already uncovered as musically successful," stated Horowitz. Meagan Williams of The Daily Barometer commented that although the main album's theme—loss, love, and redemption—were all unoriginal topics, "Robin's use of hip hop, piano, and gospel is very refreshing," giving the album a A rating. Slant Magazine's Preston Jones complimented the "varied, slick, and interesting" production in some tracks and went to escalate The Evolution of Robin Thicke as the most "surprising" R&B-pop record of 2006. An extremely positive review was made by Michael Butler from Boise Weekly who wrote, "[t]he CD has a remarkable, flowing quality and every track on it is noteworthy, but a couple of them really stand out." "Wanna Love U Girl," "Got 2 Be Down," "Cocaine" and "Angel" were all seen as the album's highlights in Butler's opinion. The Yahoo! Music reviewer Dan Gennoe complimented the album as "stylish, sophisticated and impeccably tailored" and stated that although it would not be enough to make the singer a household name, "they go a long way to making [it] an album [...] that deserves to be savoured."

About.com critic Mark Edward Nero felt that the album had its ups and downs and gave it a mixed review; "even though there's plenty of good on the 16-song album, there's also a good deal of mediocrity." "The Evolution of Robin Thicke is an okay album, but Thicke's personal evolution seems to still be a work-in-progress," resumed Nero. Jeremy Carmona, a reviewer from The Good 5 Cent Cigar, gave it a generally negative review, describing the album as a "distasteful masterpiece" and dismissing its songs for being "sappy, melodramatic tales that are just a ploy to get into some special lady's pants." The "lazy flow that takes some getting used to" and "style trump[ing] substance" were things negatively pointed by critic David Jeffries from Allmusic. However, "none of this means Thicke's sophomore effort shouldn't be embraced by those who appreciate his slightly eccentric take on slick blue-eyed neo-soul," added Jeefries.

Commercial performance
After months of delays, the album was released on October 3, 2006 in the United States. It debuted at number 45 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 20,000 copies sold. Several sources such as Vibe magazine and MTV News reported that the album started to descend on the chart with poorly sales since its release, comparable to what A Beautiful World was selling in 2003. The album's first single, "Wanna Love U Girl," also failed to push the album's sales, eventually peaking at number 65 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A writer from Vibe magazine reported, "[i]t looked as though it was happening all over again: just another talented artist with some semi-hits to offset his anonymity."

After the lead single stalled on the charts, plans for a second one were not assured. Thicke then recalled a comment made by Jimmy Iovine: "Jimmy said, 'Let's put out "Lost Without U,"' because it was always his favorite song." His label then allowed him to shoot a video for the song and as writer Shaheem Reid remarked in a MTV News article, "[i]t was a win across the board:" the song become a crossover hit, first topping the Urban AC chart—Thicke become the first white performer to reach the top since John B in 1995. However, it was when the singer's management company at that time fronted money to let Thicke go on tour with R&B singer John Legend that "Lost Without U" become a Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one on the issue dated March 31, 2007.

The success of second single "Lost Without U" combined with a number of appearances in television shows helped The Evolution of Robin Thicke to ascend on the Billboard 200. After an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the album made it first appearance in the Top 10 at number eight with sales of 45,000 copies on the issue dated February 10, 2007, after charting for more than three months. In the week when the album first topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, it dropped to number nine on the Billboard 200 despite a 15,5% gain to 52,000, continuing to increase sales-wise in the next week, when it slided up 9-6 with a 17% sales increase to 61,000. On the issue dated March 3, 2007, the album garnered its best one-week sales with 116,000 copies sold and then, two weeks later, it achieved its best peak position when it reached number five selling 57,000 units. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—denoting 1,000,000 units shipped within the United States—The Evolution of Robin Thicke left the Billboard 200 after charting for 36 weeks charting and has sold over over 1,5 million copies domestically since its release.

Deluxe Edition
With The Evolution of Robin Thicke being a commercial success in the U.S., a Deluxe Edition version of the album was issued digital-only by Interscope Records which contained all 16 songs from the previously released edition and three new songs.

Personnel

 * Andre Harrell – executive producer, A&R
 * Bill Malina – engineer
 * Bill Meyers - horn arrangements, string arrangements
 * Bobby Keyes – guitar
 * Chad Hugo - executive producer
 * Gary Grant – horn arrangements
 * Harry King – piano
 * Justin Derrico – guitar
 * Miguel Melendez – executive producer
 * Pharrell Williams – executive producer
 * Richard Travali – mixing
 * Robin Thicke – guitar, piano, drums, keyboards, production
 * Rob Walker – executive producer
 * Sean Hurley – acoustic guitar, bass