Something Else | ||||
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Studio album by Robin Thicke | ||||
Released | September 30, 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2007—2008 | |||
Genre | R&B, soul, alternative hip hop | |||
Length | 50:21 | |||
Label | Star Trak, Interscope | |||
Producer | Pharrell (exec.), Robin Thicke, Pro J, Best Kept Secret, Mark Ronson | |||
Robin Thicke chronology | ||||
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Singles from Something Else | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Billboard | (favorable) |
Blender | |
The Boston Globe | (favorable) |
Robert Christgau | |
Entertainment Weekly | (B+) |
Rolling Stone | |
Slant Magazine | |
USA Today | |
Vibe | (favorable) |
Yahoo! Music UK |
Something Else is the third studio album by R&B singer Robin Thicke, released on September 30, 2008. It is a follow up to Thicke's highly successful second album The Evolution of Robin Thicke and features a guest appearance by Lil Wayne.
After Robin Thicke finished his tour for The Evolution of Robin Thicke, he immediately went into the studio to start recording his next album. The album features production from Thicke and Pro J. Thicke describing the recording process of the album:
We just went in to the studio and we jammed. A lot of the songs are just jam sessions that turned into songs and then some of the other ones are songs I would write and then bring the band in to help me record it, but the band is on every song because we’re not using synthesizers and drum machines ... We had like two different drums setup, ten different guitars, twenty percussion instruments, three different organs or Wurlitzers or Rhodes. So we had it set up that we could be like kids in a candy store and try to create something fresh, something else.
The album drew musical comparisons from critics to the sounds of Philly soul, Motown, and disco funk which Thicke attributed to the use of live instruments, including string and horn sections.
The song "Dreamworld" muses about Thicke's ideal world in which there is, among other things, no poverty and racism. The song was partly inspired by his marriage to Paula Patton and observations of her personal and professional experiences as a black woman.
The song "Tie My Hands" was written by Thicke after the events of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He was motivated to write the song by his own feelings concerning his inability to aid in the midst of the tragedy, saying, "What happened there greatly affected a lot of us Americans. Because, though we felt like these people deserved to be helped immediately, we couldn't help. Instead we were all just watching this debacle happen in front of our eyes." Months later, Thicke played his original iteration of the song for rapper Lil' Wayne which, according to Thicke, "moved" the New Orleans native. Thicke held on to the song and did not release it until he was contacted by Wayne in 2008 regarding it, which led to their collaboration, marking their third time featuring on the same track following "Shooter" and "All Night Long".