Robin Thicke is set to release his new album On Earth, and in Heaven this Friday (Feb. 12), and the singer sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music on Wednesday (Feb. 10) for a wide-ranging interview about the deaths of his father Alan Thicke and mentor Andre Harrell, and the toxic habits sparked by the success of his 2013 hit, “Blurred Lines.”
While he admitted that early in his career, “nobody believed in me but me,” the “Blurred Lines” era gave Thicke his “first taste of that kind of fame.”
“I started to chase it more and need it more and think that that was what was going to make me happy,” he said. “Ultimately, of course, it never does. It didn’t. I lost myself in the process chasing something that I never had and never needed, but then once I got some of it, I thought I needed it.”
“For me, it wasn’t until I actually went to Malibu, slowed down, focused on my son, and then my father passed and I focused on having more kids and more of a family and taking my time with the writing, because I was writing so much, but nothing was really saying anything that mattered to me as a whole, as a whole,” he continued. “Bits and pieces. Then I just kind of started to realize that I always wanted to be an artist’s artist, a singer-songwriter, and all I cared about was my catalog, was the songs. Then I got into all this other stuff that you just get caught up in, man. Then I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy. I had bad routines, and I lost myself. Then, even worse, I lost the music. I lost my trust and my confidence in my own music. So that didn’t come back totally until Andre passed.”
“Bad routines. Bad habits,” he added. “The parties, what happens is every night is a performance and a dinner and a party. Then you’re onto the next city, and it’s a performance and a dinner and a party. Then you get caught up in it. Then you end up with some personal struggles with your marriage or things like that. For me, it was like 20 great years, and then fame hit at the worst time and throw it all into a melting pot. I was the wrong guy for the job.”
However, through his personal growth, Thicke continues to have a healthy relationship with “Blurred Lines.” “Usually, the first piece, when it goes, ‘Bump, bump, bump, everybody get up.’ The crowd goes crazy,” he explained. “It’s one of their favorite songs of mine, no question. The people who aren’t big fans of mine, that’s the only one they know. It’s true. It’s like if I’m doing a casino show and they’re like, ‘Who is this guy?,” then all of a sudden, “Oh, okay. I know this one.’”
“I’ve realized that the reason I started all this is because I love music,” he added. “I love to make music. Then once I started performing, I love to perform. So I just go for that part of it. I’ve never added anything to it that was extra. I’ve never tried to put anything on it, but we’re just jamming, and let’s everybody get up and dance. That’s all that song meant to people.”
For his new album, Thicke says his “intentions are pure” once more. “I want to make great music that spreads love, that feels like a warm blanket, that brings people closer together, that helps heal wounds and bring bonds back, and that’s what I needed,” he continued. “And that’s what this music has done for me and that’s what I wanted to do for others.”
Watch the full interview here.
