Paula | ||||
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Studio album by Robin Thicke | ||||
Released | July 1, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2014 | |||
Genre | R&B | |||
Length | 51:29 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Robin Thicke chronology | ||||
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Singles from Paula | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 49/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Billboard | 64/100 |
Entertainment Weekly | B- |
Exclaim! | 4/10 |
Los Angeles Times | |
New York Daily News | |
Now | |
Rolling Stone | |
Slant Magazine | |
USA Today |
Paula is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Robin Thicke. The album's official release date was July 1, 2014, though it was streamed by Thicke's record company a day early, on June 30, 2014. The album, released by Star Trak Entertainment and Interscope Records, served as a tribute to his estranged wife Paula Patton. The album was supported by the single "Get Her Back".
Upon its release, Paula received mixed reviews from music critics. The album debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 24,000 copies in its first week of release. The album sold only 530 copies in the United Kingdom, 550 in Canada, and 158 in Australia in its debut week.
In 2005, Robin Thicke married actress Paula Patton after dating for over a decade. On February 24, 2014, the couple has announced their legal separation, saying in a statement, "We will always love each other and be best friends, however, we have mutually decided to separate at this time." In the months following the announcement, Thicke made several attempts to repair their marriage and began dedicating his 2006 song "Lost Without U" to Patton during his concerts. He then premiered the song titled "Get Her Back", written about her, at the 2014's Billboard Music Awards, and a month later, he announced that the title of his seventh album would be Paula, after the actress. Thicke said of making and titling this album,
I came right off a tour and I had all these songs and all these ideas and feelings in my heart. And I went right into the studio. I wrote all the songs in about three weeks and we recorded the album in about a month. Obviously all the songs were about her or about how I feel about her. A lot of songwriters have done this kind of thing before. They won't tell you in the title or they'll be suggestive ... I was just like, 'There's no reason to hide who this is about.' It's all about her.