If you haven’t yet heard of Robin Thicke, then you’re about to… Having been writing and producing for years for such artists as Usher, Brandy, Mary J. Blige and Brian McKnight, Robin then got himself signed last year to The Neptune’s Star Trak label with a little help from his friend Pharrell Williams, and has since become a Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer.

After hooking up with Pharrell just a year ago, the duo then wrote and produced the explosive debut single ‘Wanna Love You Girl’, which immediately gained massive airplay across the US and in the UK in 2006. Robin’s second US single ‘Lost Without You’ still flies high on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop singles charts after an amazing 21 weeks.

His second solo album ‘The Evolution of Robin Thicke’ is officially due to hit shelves this side of the Atlantic in June, although those in the know would have imported their copy months ago when the hype really began.

In the words of Pharrell himself, “Robin Thicke is going to change music”, so be warned…

You began your musical career at the young age of 16 having tried your hand at acting. What inspired you at that age to start writing and producing music?

I think it was just you know, music was an outlet for me. My brother locked the door and my parents were too busy, so I would find salvation in my piano from about 12 years old. I was always writing songs.

Then you linked up with Andre Harrell from Uptown Records, who executive produces ‘The Evolution of Robin Thicke’ alongside The Neptunes. How did you guys come across each other?

I met Andre when I was 23. He became a mentor to me when I was 23, and he started teaching me a lot of stuff about my music and you know, the way the world works. He was very helpful to me.

You’ve written & produced all 16 songs on your album besides ‘Wanna Love You Girl’. Which songs would you say you’re most proud of?

I’m most proud of the ones that I just wrote, ha ha! The ones that haven’t even been heard yet! My favourite song is always my most recent.

For this album in particular, what is the most prolific lyric that you’ve written?

Oh, I don’t know, there’s a couple of ones that I really like. It’s tough to say, one connects more with others, ones more personal, ones you know, more mysterious. It’s hard to say, but I guess ‘To The Sky’… Yeah, ‘To The Sky’.

You deal with lots of different subjects on this album: generic subjects such as love, loss and sex, but you’ve also got some more controversial subjects on there like pending suicide, gun crime and cocaine. Have you experienced any negative press off the back of these more controversial subjects that you’ve covered?

No, no, not at all. I think that because the songs are so honest and they’re exactly what I was feeling at that moment and you know, I’m a pretty open-hearted and wear my heart on my sleeve type of a guy, so I like to put it into my music and everything you wanna know about me, it’s in the words in the album.

A lot of your lyrics on this album reflect a troubled soul who struggles with the idea of love. The song ‘Complicated’ is a perfect example of this. What advice would you give to all the other guys out there who also feel like this?!

I think everybody feels that way sooner or later and most people just either don’t wanna deal with it or ignore it. We’re all complicated and we all have times when we’re saying the wrong sh*t or we’re not moving on and stuck in a rut. It’s about not being stuck in a rut and getting outta it and not having it affect your relationship.

You’re performing at the Jazz Café on April 11^th. Have you been to the UK before and have you ever performed here?

I edited my first video from my first album ‘A Beautiful World’ in the UK ‘cos I used a British director. I didn’t perform in any clubs back then. But I was in the UK with John Legend a few months ago; I opened up for John Legend & we did Manchester and Birmingham and London, the Brixton Academy and Glasgow, you know we did a few spots out there.

And how did you find the UK crowd?

I thought the London crowd was amazing and I thought that Manchester, they were pretty tough! They were feeling it great, but I think there was just a couple [of] angry people there. They didn’t spoil it at all though!

You’ve collaborated with big artists like Pharrell, Faith Evans and Lil’ Wayne on your current album. Have you got anyone else in mind to also work with right now?

I’m not really into any collaborations right now, just because I feel like I’ve got so much to say and so much music in me that I don’t really worry or think about collaborations, but you know, sometimes they happen naturally you know? I haven’t really been hearing too much other music ‘cos I been touring for about six months straight and I’m always writing instead of listening to the radio, so I haven’t really been hearing the new stuff.

So are you currently working on your third album?

Yeah, I got about 50 songs in the vault and about 15 for the new album.

So do you never get the time to listen to anyone else’s stuff?

Not really, unless I’m like really, really inspired. I mean Radiohead, and Computer and Lauryn Hill’s album and Alanis Morrisette. You know, there’s always a classic that you start to dig into. Just right now I’m mostly just focussed on my own stuff.

You recently turned 30. If you could have had a concert in honour of your 30^th birthday, who would you have had to perform at it for you?

That would have to be my wife, ha ha! She could lip-synch and dance around for me and that would be a perfect birthday!

Do you feel that you’ve often been stereotyped being a white artist within the ‘urban’ music genre? Do you feel it’s maybe been slightly harder for you in the past to progress and gain credibility?

No, no, credibility was always easier in the urban scene. You know the black radio stations and black community, if you’re good then you’re good and they don’t really care what colour you are or where you’re from. It’s the white people who always seem to need to know; you know, they need to have some definition or some storyline attached to it.

If you had some kind of magic wand, what would you mostly want to change about this industry?

Racism…. Always, would be great.

I believe you featured in ‘The Wonder Years’ as a kid. Which character did you play?

Oh, I was ‘guy in hallwall’ or something! ‘Guy in front of door’, ‘guy in ski-jacket’! That’s how big my acting ever got! ‘Guy with snow coat’… That was my biggest role, ha ha! I really just did it for the Christmas money and to be around the chicks! I never wanted to be an actor, I just did it for the fun!

What is your biggest frustration?

Just with people not having a chance to live out their own dreams, really.

You’ve already achieved a lot in your career… You’re still flying high on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart in the US with the single ‘Lost Without You’ and are no doubt about to blow internationally. Have you got any other specific career goals that you’d like to achieve?

No, I really just wanna keep making music and am trying to bring people closer together, and you know, trying to spread joy and hope ‘cos you know I try to spread it into myself and I wanna try and spread it out there as much as possible.

Catch Robin’s one-off UK gig at The Jazz Café on April 11^th 2007. Robin’s second album ‘The Evolution of Robin Thicke’ will be officially released in the UK on June 25^th 2007.