INTERVIEW: Shaggy & Robin Thicke Talk New Single 'Looking Lovely', Bending Genres, Fatherhood, Gratitude + More

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

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The Breakfast Club

Episode Date: March 17, 2026
Guests: Shaggy & Robin Thicke
Hosts: Charlamagne Tha God, Jess Hilarious (DJ Envy off)
Theme: Shaggy & Robin Thicke discuss their new single “Looking Lovely,” musical genres, creative process, fatherhood, gratitude, and navigating the music industry.

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Episode Overview

In this episode, The Breakfast Club welcomes reggae/dancehall icon Shaggy and R&B singer-songwriter Robin Thicke to explore their collaborative single "Looking Lovely." The conversation delves into their genre-bending approach, the inspiration behind the track, reflections on musical purpose, creative challenges, experiences with fatherhood, and lessons learned throughout their enduring careers. Both artists offer heartfelt, humorous, and candid stories about longevity, collaborating across musical styles, and balancing artistry with personal growth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis of "Looking Lovely" and Creative Chemistry

• Origins of the Collaboration:

  • The idea stemmed from a chance meeting during a show where Shaggy, Robin, and others hung out. The musical connection grew organically.
    • [02:04] Shaggy: “We did some in Houston, and me and him, Cliff, all of us, we ended up hanging out one night and was just...we just kind of kicked it off.”
  • Shaggy sent Robin a record, and Robin immediately resonated with it, feeling its blend of throwback soul and Caribbean vibes.
    • [02:18] Shaggy: "I sent it to him, and he was just like, yo, this is...this is lovely."
    • [02:23] Robin Thicke: “All my inspirations are Otis and Bill and Al Green and guys like that. So when he sent me the record...there’s something here with the throwback soul record but with the Caribbean influence.”

• Celebrating Compliment and Womanhood:

  • The song aims to bring back lost elements of romance and compliments in music.
    • [01:47] Shaggy: “Just the mere compliment, you know, I was like, man, you just—you’re looking lovely today.”

2. Bending Genres & Crossing Formats

• Both artists discussed how their music often straddles genre lines, making radio categorization a challenge but also a strength.

  • [04:59] Shaggy: “When you're a reggae guy...nobody really know where to put me.”
  • [05:28] Robin Thicke: “That’s how I was when I first came out...they wouldn’t play me at pop radio. So they said, let's try him at urban AC.”

• Songs that resonate deeply "cross all formats."

  • [06:02] Robin Thicke: “But...when a record is big, it crosses all formats.”
  • [06:09] Shaggy: “A big record...it ended up going on everything down the line.”

3. Hybridization as Cultural Shift

• Shaggy emphasizes the value of musical hybrids as engines of cultural change, referencing Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, and his own experiences.
  • [06:53] Sting (paraphrasing): “If I'm going to do music just like those who are my heroes… I gotta literally find a way. That is me…”
  • [07:36] Shaggy: “Those very recordings are now the blueprint of what reggae music is... every dancehall record is really a hybrid style... so to me you just got to really bet on yourself.”

4. Navigating Inspiration, Pressure & Artistic Craft

• Both artists speak candidly about internal pressures, finding inspiration, and balancing audience expectations with personal fulfillment.
  • [11:05] Robin Thicke: “I always feel just the pressure you put on yourself as an artist...you don't want to leave the audience you’ve made, but you don't want to repeat yourself either.”
  • [11:30] Shaggy: “The hardest thing right now for me...is to be inspired...I look for inspiration, and so I'm not putting anything out unless I'm totally inspired.”
  • [12:04] Shaggy: “That's why I don't put out music as often...I have to make sure it's crafted right. And I have to like it first.”

5. Fatherhood, Purpose, and Gratitude

• Robin and Shaggy share how becoming fathers fundamentally changed their sense of purpose and inspired their recent work.
  • [13:49] Robin Thicke: “For me right now, you know, my kids inspire me...not repeating the cycle of broken home.”
  • [15:24] Robin Thicke: “Gratitude makes everything more fun. Because if I'm coming in here and I'm like, they're not going to get me, they're not going to like me...then you're already missing the whole point.”
  • [15:48] Shaggy: “I'm soaking it up in this age...gratitude is a big part of it.”
  • [21:04] Robin Thicke: “When my kids were born...I found a new purpose. I think I just kind of morphed into my life being about me, into being about their, you know, their futures.”

6. Cultural Embrace and Genre Fluidity

• Shaggy reflects on Jamaica's openness to musical influences from around the world, mentioning how artists from multiple backgrounds have found success in reggae and dancehall.
  • [24:25] Shaggy: “Jamaica is one of the few…cultures that embraces everybody...[with] reggae bands, they're all white… revolution… UB40… the police…”
  • [26:23] Shaggy: “Out of many, one people.”

Notable Quotes on Genre & Identity

• [22:25] Robin Thicke: “You know, I'm always trying to make black music...that's what I grew up on. Those are my favorite singers. So I'm always trying to be a part of that culture.”
• [23:26] Robin Thicke: “For me, I think that's just...it all starts from inspiration. I grew up in the Eddie Murphy, Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, 80s, you know what I mean?”

7. Dealing with Setbacks: Blurred Lines & Legal Troubles

• Robin discusses the personal and professional toll of the “Blurred Lines” lawsuit, how it shaped his growth, and how to persevere.
  • [28:16] Robin Thicke: “I'm sure it does...whether it's subliminal or overt. But I think in the end, I always have to have enough faith in myself that another great song is coming...”
  • [56:18] Sting: “There are many songs that I’ve done that I’ve lost 100% publishing—like, even on Angel…”
  • [56:23] Shaggy: “Couldn’t get dancehall and reggae on radio, so I had to use samples and interpolations to get on radio.”

8. Collaboration & Professionalism

• Both take pride in building real friendships and approaching collaboration with humility and professionalism, preferring genuine connections over industry politics.
  • [36:44] Shaggy: “Most of my collaborations come from just sheer friendship. You know, I struck up a friendship with Robin...it’s refreshing to be promoting the record with a guy that's pro.”
  • [53:38] Sting: “I love Rob’s professionalism. It makes me have hope in the game that this thing could still, you know, satisfy me. And I’m inspired.”

9. Reflections on Longevity, Success & Self-Discovery

• Definitions of success evolve; both now value impact and fan connection over stats.
  • [40:49] Shaggy: “So it doesn’t matter whether it's a stream or not. When I go out and I'm singing and my audience is in front of me...that’s winning for me.”
  • [41:00] Shaggy: “If it hits the charts and it goes up and all that…It’s fine…I have other albums and I was like, yo, this is just way better...my fans...they know those records."
  • [57:30] Robin Thicke: “...what happened with that song pales in comparison to everything else, I would think now for sure. Because now my kids...that song won't nearly matter as much as my kid help that's helping pay for their school.”

10. Personal Transformation & Aging

• Both Robin and Shaggy highlight lessons learned through adversity, therapy, and the perspective that comes with age.
  • [45:46] Robin Thicke: "I think God was saying you've had it fairly easy up till now...Who are you when you're challenged?...Now I don’t feel that I’m entitled to anything. I feel like I have to earn everything I get.”
  • [47:14] Shaggy: "Aging is good. Absolutely gives you perspective, if you're lucky to make it."
  • [48:03] Shaggy: “Your body tells you, you kind of have to...after you start going, certain things ain’t starting to feel right. Once you make those changes, you realize how you just feel different.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Soul vs. Technology:
  [09:33] Shaggy: "When I think about AI too, people are talking about AI...it's going to really let the cream rise to the top." [09:39] Charlamagne: "Yeah. Because you can't replicate that soul."
• The Power of Simplicity & Sincerity:
  [10:25] Shaggy: "It wasn't me. He's out of your banging. You know, somebody banging, and you wish you’re banging…It’s very relatable."
• Industry Advice:
  [55:47] Shaggy: “Hey, be nice on the way up, because you're gonna see them on the way down.”

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• [01:32] - Introduction to “Looking Lovely” & theme of collaboration
• [02:18-04:50] - Shaggy and Robin discuss Bill Withers, soul influence, and songwriting process
• [04:59-07:45] - Discussion on genre ambiguity, radio formats, and how big records cross boundaries
• [11:05-13:49] - Artistic pressure, creative process, and inspiration, especially with the new album
• [14:28-15:55] - Importance of gratitude, learning from challenges, and living with purpose
• [21:04-22:45] - Robin shares how fatherhood reshaped his sense of purpose
• [24:25-26:23] - Shaggy details Jamaica’s pluralism and reggae/reggaeton’s cross-cultural roots
• [28:16-29:32] - “Blurred Lines” impact and Robin’s early songwriting credits
• [36:44-37:33] - Collaboration based on genuine friendship versus industry networking
• [40:21-41:22] - Evolving definition of success and connection with fans
• [45:46-48:03] - Surviving adversity, therapy, and finding self-worth beyond external validation
• [53:38-55:15] - What each artist learned from working together and the value of professionalism
• [56:18-57:30] - Losing publishing on hit records, perspective on “Blurred Lines,” and learning from obstacles

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Memorable, Light-hearted Moments

• [39:09] Robin Thicke jokes about accidentally giving his daughter the name “Mia Love Thicke”—guaranteed playground teasing.
• [36:44, 53:59] Shaggy and Robin praise each other’s old-school, no-drama attitudes during promotions and video shoots.
• [52:55] Robin to Shaggy: “I’ve heard your singing records is strong, man. You wouldn’t even know.”
• [55:55] Robin on performing “Blurred Lines”: “That's the magic...I wait till the end and as soon as I go, everybody get up.”

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Key Takeaways

• Collaboration born of Friendship: The partnership between Shaggy and Robin Thicke was organic, built on mutual respect, shared influences, and a desire to focus on feel-good music.
• Genre-bending as Art, Not Strategy: Both artists naturally blend genres, crossing boundaries as a matter of creative expression and cultural celebration—not marketing.
• Success Re-defined: They measure success less by industry stats and more by impact, fan connection, and personal fulfillment.
• Purpose & Gratitude: Fatherhood, hardship, and growing older have instilled a deeper appreciation for gratitude, responsibility, and authenticity in both men’s lives and careers.

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[Listen to “Looking Lovely” by Shaggy & Robin Thicke]
[58:30]
Shaggy: “Oh, your window's got to be down, too.”

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Closing Note:
This episode is a masterclass in humility, adaptability, and enduring passion for music and life, delivered with warmth, humor, and honesty by two artists who have genuinely shaped their respective genres—and each other’s journeys.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Howie Mandel]

Hey, it's Howie Mandel, and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my how we do it gaming team take on Gilly the King and Wallow 2, 6, 7's million dollars gaming in an epic global gaming league video game showdown. Four rounds, multiple games, one winner, plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match against Neo right [e-mail]. that's globalgam gamingleague.com. everybody games

[Charlamagne tha God]

every day.

[Robin Thicke]

I wake up.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club. Yep. It's the world's most dangerous morning show. The Breakfast Club. Charlemagne the God. Just hilarious. Envy is off today, but we got two special guests in the building.

[Shaggy]

We baseless.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

We are baseless.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Well, you here, you kind of.

[Sting]

He.

[Shaggy]

The prime minister of beige. That's true.

[Podcast Sponsor Voice]

That's true.

[Shaggy]

That's true.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Shaggy. Shaggy is here. Shaggy is beige. Robin Thick is here. He's off white.

[Robin Thicke]

I'm drunk.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I'm red.

[Robin Thicke]

Mostly red.

[Charlamagne tha God]

How are y' all today, man?

[Shaggy]

All good, man. You could have done something about the weather, though.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Oh, boy.

[Shaggy]

Let me tell you, I was dressed up. I was like, man, it's raining all day. Like, yo, what's up?

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, don't ever trust the bellman. I checked in last night. He was like, it's gonna be a beautiful day tomorrow. Yeah, yo, you told me that.

[Shaggy]

Oh, I can't wait. It's gonna be nice today. I'm like, bro, you know, I'm at the weatherman said lies.

[Charlamagne tha God]

What do we. What do we owe the pleasure of this. This union right here? I know y' all got a new set. We dressed up.

[Sting]

We looking lovely.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Looking lovely, looking lovely.

[Robin Thicke]

Growing in sexy reggae things these days.

[Shaggy]

Yeah, man. It's a good vibe.

[Charlamagne tha God]

It's a good.

[Sting]

Good energy, you know, a great, great songs. Something for the ladies, of course. You know what I'm saying?

[Shaggy]

I think a lot of that is lost sometimes.

[Sting]

Just the.

[Shaggy]

The mere compliment, you know, I was like, man, you just. You're looking. You're looking lovely today. You know, I mean, just having that vibe.

[Sting]

And it's a song I. I wrote.

[Shaggy]

You know, I. I ran into Robin on who was.

[Robin Thicke]

We did a show together.

[Shaggy]

Yeah, it was in.

[Sting]

I think it was one of the F1s.

[Shaggy]

We did some in Houston, and me and him, Cliff, all of us, we ended up hanging out one night and was just.

[Sting]

We just kind of kicked it off. And once this record Came up. I was like, wow, this sound like Robin.

[Shaggy]

I sent it to him, and he

[Sting]

was just like, yo, this is.

[Shaggy]

This is lovely.

[Sting]

Oh, that's.

[Robin Thicke]

Well, you know, I'm a huge Bill Withers fan. Of course. You know, I'm a soul head. So all my inspirations are Otis and Bill and Al Green and guys like that. So when he sent me the record and he had his voice on it, I'm a huge Shaggy fan. I was like, you know what? There's something here with the. The throwback soul record, but with the Caribbean influence. And if I put some little soul man stuff on it, put that white soul on it.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

We were really happy with it.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I can't. Whatever. I hear Bill with his lovely day, I think of the late, great Clarence Avon.

[Shaggy]

Oh, yeah, Clarence is. Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

And I know he. I know Clarence means a lot to you, too.

[Shaggy]

A lot. Big time. I mean, even, you know, when. When I show.

[Sting]

Actually show that documentary of Black Godfather to a lot of people coming up. You know, I do this thing in Jamaica called the Island Music Conference, which is. This is my third year doing it.

[Shaggy]

I just did it.

[Sting]

You know, I bring a lot of people down from the business just. Just to get, you know, a lot of the inner city youths out of Jamaica and reggae artists. Because so many of our artists, their intellectual properties are owned by other people throughout the whole whole thing. So we try to get them on the right track and just, like, kind of make it go.

[Shaggy]

And.

[Sting]

And that's one of them things I

[Shaggy]

say, Yo, y' all gott.

[Sting]

You know, I mean, because Clarence was instrumental in a lot of people that y' all didn't really know, you know, I mean, so.

[Shaggy]

Yeah, and. And, you know, Bill with us, you know, the thing with Bill is he didn't really put out a huge catalog. It wasn't really massive. But those songs are probably some of the most recurrent songs through decades.

[Robin Thicke]

Well, he's one of the greatest poets we've ever had. Music. I mean, I remember, if you. If you got to see his documentary, I'm. I Am Bill or something like that. And you. Even when he speaks, he doesn't talk much, but every time he speaks, there's poetry. There's so much meaning and. And value to his words that he doesn't waste. He doesn't waste words, you know, and that. That was something that I really appreciated about him.

[Shaggy]

And he's a lot of people's favorite, too.

[Sting]

I mean, he's actually Sting, one of Sting's favorite artists. Him and I. We'd be on stage together, we'd be doing songs like Will Hemisch.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You said he's one of Sting's favorite artists.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Wow.

[Sting]

Big time.

[Robin Thicke]

Because the lyrics do. I mean, musically and lyrically, he's just one of the best.

[Interviewer/Host]

What genre would Looking Lovely fall under then?

[Shaggy]

Well, you know what it is, I think I was just discussing this.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, we think it's like grown, you know, it's grown and sexy, but it's got the Caribbean influence. And most of my records playing on Urban ac, so I think there's a home for it there. But there's also, you know, with his big pop, you know, massive records, when he crosses over, it plays everywhere. And when I hear it, I feel like I'm on vacation with the pina coladas. You know what I mean? Like, it just gives me that. And especially everything right now, like, anytime we can just have a. It's just meant to make you feel good. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel here. We're just trying to make you feel good.

[Shaggy]

It is a feel good record. But in my history of doing records, you know, when you're a reggae, there's, you know, I heart's got what, 800 station. How many of them are reggae station 00? So how did a guy like me get on. On radio with that many hits and sold that many records over the years? Is really. Because I put these records that once something happened and it becomes huge. It kind of crosses all formats because nobody really know where to put me. That's kind of. It's like, well, he's reggae, he's poppy.

[Robin Thicke]

That's how I was when I first came out. And they didn't. They wouldn't play me a pop radio. So they said, let's try him@urban ac. Let's try them at grown black radio. And that's where I broke was. Yeah. In D.C. on. On urban AC radio is where Lost without yout broke. And that's. That's where I've played most of my career is on adult black radio.

[Shaggy]

Yeah, that's.

[Charlamagne tha God]

That sucks too, though, because when you think of a song called lost without YouTube, we used to have the Quiet Storm.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

That used to matter. Like, you know what I mean? And. And throughout the day now you hear R B. Like Lost without you would kill.

[Interviewer/Host]

Hell yeah.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

But like, I'm trying to make another one. I'm working on it.

[Shaggy]

Right. But to the point of it, you know, when a record is big, it crosses all formats.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

You know, I mean, A big record. It wasn't me when we dropped that record, you know, that ended up going on everything down the line. But when it started, started on mixed shows and some dance hall and then ended up just becoming. And then a guy in Hawaii played in and it just became this massive thing.

[Charlamagne tha God]

So when you got R and B and you know, reggae, dancehall, what did you discover about where those two worlds like naturally meet?

[Shaggy]

Well, I'm, I am, I am naturally a hybrid guy. I think me and Sting was talking about this.

[Sting]

I said, you know, hybrid is what shifts culture.

[Shaggy]

Like, if I'm gonna do music, say for instance, Dennis Brown or Bob Marley, if I'm gonna do music just like those who are my heroes and do it just exactly like them, who the

[Sting]

hell am I to think that I could do it better? Those guys are masters of their craft. I gotta literally find a way. That is me, you know, I mean,

[Shaggy]

when I came to Old Carolina back in the 90s, you know, dancehall was in a different place.

[Sting]

And people, I was criticized heavy for it.

[Shaggy]

It was like, yo, you know, he's doing this. What kind of music is this? Is this, you know, cross the crossovers, water down it is this whatever, whatever they call it. But I was hitting number one around the world. Yeah, I was in good company because Bob Marley was the same thing. And I mean, you're looking at Bob Marley where they had session musician, that overdub rock. Session musician, overdub that overdubs on him,

[Sting]

rock sounds on him so he could get on rock radio. And Chris Blackwell told me that there's

[Shaggy]

an old documentary on it. Funny now that, that, that very, those very recordings are now the blueprint of what reggae music is. You know, I'm saying. And even hybrids, you look at every dance. I recognize really a hybrid style. And I mean, so to me you just got to really bet on yourself. And that's why I did my album that's coming out. This record's also on it. It's called Lottery. And Lottery is, is really me betting on myself because I've always betted on myself. You imagine me being in a record company on a major and there's nobody like me. There was nobody before me that did this. Yeah. On Mainstream the Way When O Carolina Come, it was the first dance dance all number one in the British chart. Mr. Bombastic is the first regular dancehall record to debut at number one.

[Robin Thicke]

My seven year old daughter just started saying randomly at breakfast, boomastic.

[Shaggy]

What do you mean boom?

[Robin Thicke]

Basting.

[Shaggy]

What do you mean?

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, man, this is how you got too much stuff.

[Charlamagne tha God]

When I hear y' all talk about music, man, y' all sound like scientists.

[Shaggy]

Yes.

[Sting]

It is calculated.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

For me, I don't feel like people have that type of passion no more, man.

[Shaggy]

Well, you know what? I think we're living in a. A time that's a fast time. Everything is done, like, real quick, you know, I mean, when you. When you look at. And there's all this equipment to help them, you know, I mean.

[Robin Thicke]

Well, I think there's always. Every generation we have the. It ain't as good as the last. You know, the grown heads are always saying that, and the young heads are saying it's better than it was. But there's always great artistry mixed in the fluff. You know, there's always, like, you look at Olivia Dean, I mean, that's. You know, there's.

[Charlamagne tha God]

There's.

[Robin Thicke]

There are these artists that are still making something brand new from their hearts and their experiences. And that stuff lasts the test of time. Otherwise, you know, some of it is just supposed to make you feel good and make you dance and make you have a good time, you know, and those things come and go. But the real artists that are coming from their heart and have something to say.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

There's.

[Robin Thicke]

There's always a love.

[Shaggy]

Ones with the love. You got that love for it. You'll find that real.

[Robin Thicke]

That's why obsessed with.

[Shaggy]

When I think about AI too, people are talking about AI.

[Sting]

I'm like, I think it's actually going

[Shaggy]

to be good in a way, because it's going to really let the cream rise to the top.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah. Because you can't replicate that soul.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Sting]

You know, I mean. Yeah.

[Shaggy]

So. So the mediocrity that people just go do that quick thing, they're going to have problems.

[Robin Thicke]

And there's something karmically to skipping steps. You know, if you skip steps and you try to, you know, you try to get rich quick schemes and those kind of things, you can get that first push. But to last, you really have to have a craft and an obsession and the love for the game and the music to make it last.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Because even when I heard you talking about Bill Withers, Robin, you said he was a poet and you talked about his lyrics. I feel like nowadays people just want to get the beat, make a melody, don't even care what the hell they say.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

On the record.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah. As long as it feels good. But, you know, some people do have something to say. They still got something to say.

[Sting]

Well, I think relatability Is also when I write my records, I try to be as relatable as possible. You know what I'm saying? The thing when you think about listening

[Shaggy]

to Grandma Hands, that's. That's. That's your life. If you up there. Yeah, that's everybody. Grandma's hands. That's every word that he was saying there. I'm raised by my grandmother, so that record speaks to me, you know, I mean, so it's really writing songs. I'm gonna throw a phrase here now a little bit off, but, you know, it wasn't me. He's out of your banging. You know, somebody banging, and you wish you're banging.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

I'm just saying. Very relatable.

[Shaggy]

It's very relatable. Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

Did you guys. Did either of you feel pressure to, like, to make new music because of all the things that are going on, you know, all the. The new music that. That is out now?

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

Did you guys feel pressure?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, I always feel just the pressure you put on yourself as an artist just to challenge yourself and try to make something great. I mean, I think we all want to get in there and make something that touches hearts and moves culture, and you don't always, you know, hit that mark, but. But I think we're always trying to challenge ourselves. And if you've made eight, nine, ten albums, then you don't want to. You don't want to leave the audience you've made, but you don't want to, you know, repeat yourself either.

[Shaggy]

I think the hardest thing right now for me at this stage of the game is to be inspired, you know, And I. I look for inspiration, and so I'm not putting anything out unless I'm totally inspired, you know, And I. And I try to find the uncomfortable because I don't think there's growth without being uncomfortable. You know what I mean? And then I find comfort outside of my comfort zone, and then look for the uncomfortable again.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

You know, because it keeps you alive and everything's. You know, the hamster in the wheel feels comfortable in the wheel, but it goes nowhere.

[Interviewer/Host]

So you're your own worst critic, like.

[Shaggy]

Oh, big time. Big time, big time. And that's why I don't put out music as often as everybody else. I have to make sure it's crafted right. And I. And I have to. I have to like it first. And I've always made music selfishly. Yeah, I do it for me, and then if you like it, then you like it.

[Charlamagne tha God]

So it inspires you this time.

[Sting]

I've been doing this for A while. And there's been many inspiration. You know, Sting has been a big inspiration.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I'm talking about this right now, in this moment.

[Sting]

In this moment.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Sting]

It's just it that this record that I'm doing is a record that I've been doing for a while.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Okay.

[Sting]

You know, over a couple of years, you know, I've just got. I've made this record like, four times. I mean, because I. I keep challenging myself.

[Shaggy]

I said, nah, it ain't that. It ain't that. You know, I mean, so the inspiration now comes from just where the game is, because I'm in the game every day watching it, watching these younger artists. I surround myself with a lot of young people. Yeah. You know, I mean, my. My whole team that I make records with are younger people than me.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And I mean, and I. I pull from them, and a lot of them will have raw, raw talent, but that.

[Sting]

That sense of structure, you know, I'm saying, and. And just figuring out, because I'm more traveled than them, I know what will work and what market what does. And even the rollout of how it's done, you know, they're. They're like, oh, okay, I see why you do that.

[Shaggy]

You know, I just dropped something with me, Dexter Daps and Barris. This is ripping up the dance. All right, now, then I dropped the Akon and I Dono, which is on. On the. And then now I come with me and Robin, you know, I mean, so there's a strategy in how I do everything.

[Sting]

So you were right on the money, where you're just like, okay, everything is strategic in a way, you know?

[Charlamagne tha God]

What about you, Mr. Dick? What inspired you? Pause. Yeah. Mr. Dick's is crazy. Yes.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yes, I know.

[Shaggy]

That's right.

[Robin Thicke]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, for me, I've been working on my new album for five years. Last time I dropped was 20, 21. And.

[Charlamagne tha God]

And.

[Robin Thicke]

And for me, it has to mean something to me for me to release it, you know, so I've gone through some. And when you write, you know, you write 40, 50 songs, and some of them, you're going for the dance floor or something. But then by the time you get to the end of the project, you realize what matters and what means something to you. So I have a. I have a almost finished album that I'm trying to drop this year. And for me right now, you know, my kids inspire me. And. And I came from a divorced family when I was seven years old. And so right now, what's most important to me is not repeating the cycle of broken home. You know what I mean? So everything on my album is about the effort to, to keep a family together and, and not repeat those cycles we come from.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You know, I always hear comedians say that, you know, they. In between standups, they have to live life.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Like, they can't just go out there and go on stage and be funny and just give you material. Like, they have to live life. Is that the same for you?

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, you got to go. And I think what I'm learning at this stage in my life is that the hardest things I've had to face have made me a better man and a stronger man and a better friend. The hardest things, the most difficult challenges have made me stronger and better. So now I embrace those challenges. I think that's what happens with age, is that you don't take failure so seriously. Failure is just part of, of the grind. It's just part of life, you know, as opposed to when you're young and something goes wrong, you're like, that's the end of my career. That's the end of my life. Now I've. I've been through so many ups and downs. I can just enjoy this. Like, I just wake up and go, thank you, God. Thank you, God, for this is going to be a great day. And I'm. Have a good time.

[Shaggy]

Do you find us. Do you find it's more fun. Older?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, it's more fun being grateful.

[Shaggy]

Well, I think I'm having. I'm having a.

[Robin Thicke]

Gratitude makes everything more fun. Because if I'm coming in here and I'm like, they're not going to get me, they're not going to like me, they're not going to treat me right, then you're already missing the whole point. You're already coming up with your muscles up.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah. I feel like when you in your 20s and even in your 30s, I don't know if I appreciated the moment.

[Shaggy]

Like, it goes so fast.

[Sting]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I feel like at 47, I appreciate the moment of life.

[Shaggy]

I'm, I'm. I'm soaking it up in this age, and I'm just like, wow, you know, it's been a ride and gratitude is, is a big part of it.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah. Well, I realized that if, if you feel. If you, if you have gratitude in your heart, then you can't really feel anything else. At the same time, you can't be selfish, you can't be, you know, negative. If you're. If you're in a state of gratitude, then nothing's wrong.

[Shaggy]

Really?

[Robin Thicke]

Because you're grateful for what God has given you.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah. Are we getting any visuals like we did?

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, we actually. We went number. My first number one on reggae. We went.

[Shaggy]

We.

[Robin Thicke]

I found out yesterday we were number one on iTunes on the reggae charts. So I got my first. My first reggae number one on the iTunes, at least. So exciting. It feels great.

[Shaggy]

You know you don't like reggae.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I know. Grown to appreciate it more.

[Interviewer/Host]

Okay.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yes. Over the years.

[Shaggy]

No, but, hey, me. Me and Charlotte may go back and forth on that whole time. Say, I don't understand nothing, man. Let me tell.

[Robin Thicke]

I don't.

[Shaggy]

I'm from north. I'm from South Carolina, man. I. Yo, what? I.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You know what made me understand it?

[Shaggy]

The beige one, Safari.

[Howie Mandel]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

He'll break it down to you, though.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I'm lying.

[Shaggy]

Is that him?

[Charlamagne tha God]

No.

[Shaggy]

Okay. All right.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

But he'll break it down to you,

[Shaggy]

though, because, you know, safari's like industries down in Jamaica in the culture of it, too, you know, I figured the beige one will let you, because, you know, he's Jamaican.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I'm gonna tell you the truth, though. When I started listening to Afrobeats, like, I really like Afrobeats. Yeah. Afro rhythms. And people like how you like that, but didn't like. So it started to make me appreciate it more. Absolutely.

[Sting]

Nice.

[Shaggy]

It's deep. The funniest thing is, if you look at dancehall, even the earlier. There's a guy called. I don't know if you know about El General. El General, he did a song called.

[Sting]

Which were really the first two reggaeton songs.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You said the poom poom.

[Shaggy]

What?

[Robin Thicke]

The boom.

[Interviewer/Host]

The poom poom under the umbrella.

[Shaggy]

The boom boom. 90, 90. I go kill me that Doom doom.

[Robin Thicke]

You remember that record?

[Charlamagne tha God]

But why is it an umbrella, right?

[Sting]

Umbrella. I didn't say. Nobody umbrella.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh, my God. I thought you literally just said. Okay, sorry.

[Shaggy]

I said, which is my Spanish probably sucks. But. But he did it, you know. You know about it. Yeah.

[Sting]

Okay.

[Charlamagne tha God]

So not gonna tell us what that means?

[Sting]

Yeah, but that was his song that he did. And. And El General. El General used to be at Erasmus Hall. Him and I used to be in the L back in the day. That was the early part, brother.

[Shaggy]

Call Rivera. We used to be uptown, and he used to be those parties. And VP was the label that actually put those first two records out. Those records were really the first two reggaeton records. And what he. What El General used to do was do dancehall records in Spanish. They used to call it Spanish reggae. And that was the first time reggaeton became, and it becomes now a billion dollar industry. So a lot of things come out of reggae and dancehall.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And I'm saying hip hop, of course, a cool Hercules. So a lot of it comes out from this culture of, of, of Caribbean music.

[Interviewer/Host]

Never knew that when you, when you,

[Charlamagne tha God]

when you, when you are responsible for sparking a billion dollar industry. Do you ever feel like why I didn't get my cut?

[Shaggy]

No.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Okay.

[Shaggy]

Nah. Because I think that in my game of this, I've done pretty well.

[Sting]

I took myself out of the ghettos,

[Shaggy]

I've taken my family out of the ghettos.

[Sting]

I've done pretty well for myself.

[Shaggy]

How I look at it, it's still. For me to be here 30 odd years, still doing it is incredible because do you know, this game is a quick game, you know, I'm saying, so to have lasted this long and still be even, you know, I'm like the third highest streaming reggae artist in the world still. You know, I'm saying. So for me to still be doing that is amazing. But we look at ourselves. I don't know, I look at myself as servants.

[Sting]

We're all servants at the end of the day.

[Shaggy]

So, you know, people look at me and say, well, Shaggy, you know, you wrote. It wasn't me and angel and you're genius and blah blah, blah. I'm like, nah, bro, I wrote those records. But I really didn't because those are ordained, you know, I mean, from a higher being. Because if I wrote, I'd be right one every week.

[Sting]

Trust me.

[Shaggy]

I'm saying. But it's like a tool. Like, you know, somebody, you might be building a house, the four walls and, and cement and concrete, and you reach the roof and you need, you need a hammer. And I said, I ain't got no money. And here's, here's Boom Bastic. Now you could build three houses to cover everybody. You go on tour, there's, you know, 300 to 500 people, which are riggers and truck drivers and concession stand people. That's, that's, you know, three to 500 electric bills, cool fee, you know, mortgages. And one of them might go to an Ivy League school and, and find a cure for cancer. You're part of an equation.

[Interviewer/Host]

That's right.

[Shaggy]

So I look at myself as everything that I do as a servant. And my job is really to touch people's lives and change it. You know, I wrote Hot Shot. It was letting people that bought homes and started their lives. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I'LL talk to half the anyway, but it doesn't matter.

[Robin Thicke]

You, right, you.

[Shaggy]

You really change.

[Sting]

It's about changing people's lives.

[Shaggy]

So I found there's a. There's a moment in your life when you find purpose. And when I got that purpose, I was like, okay, this is now.

[Sting]

I started feeling better by myself.

[Shaggy]

I wasn't worried because I got, you

[Sting]

know, I got jerked in, in, you know, my career, coming up with people and money and management and all that.

[Shaggy]

It's.

[Sting]

I've done it. I don't worry about that anymore because I found purpose.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Do you remember, Robin, when you found purpose?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, you know, I was pretty self obsessed, you know, trying to make it for a long time and make my dad and impress my parents and those things that we try to do. But yeah, when my, when my kids were born and especially when my daughters were born, I found a new purpose. I think I just kind of morphed into my life being about me, into being about their, you know, their futures. And so, and it's nice because they say that purpose is the most important thing. Why we wake up every day, you know, why we wake up and keep going. And, and I, I might have given up on myself at some point, but I can't give up. Well, I can't give up on my. I don't know. I say might but you know, sometimes when you feel like giving up, you just feel like, I don't know if I can do this anymore. I'm facing too much harshness. And then. But the kids, they just. Nothing. I've never been loved more by anything in this world or needed more than. Than I am from my kids. So they give me. I wake up at 6am every morning with purpose thanks to them, you know.

[Interviewer/Host]

And the new, the album that you're working on.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

Is it therapeutic for you?

[Robin Thicke]

Oh, yeah. I mean, that's the thing. The songs that were fluff that, that weren't about that. That purpose just didn't seem to matter on the album anymore. So all the songs that are geared towards the family survival and sticking together and staying together, that's what all the songs matter to me.

[Charlamagne tha God]

How does it reflect where you are musically now versus like the Robin Thicke we heard a decade ago?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, it's still, it's. You know, I'm always trying to make black music. You know what I mean? I'm trying to make soul music. I'm trying to. I mean, that's what I grew up on. That's who I love. And those are my favorite Singers. So I'm always trying to be a part of that culture. So, you know, and I. And I like making love songs. I mean, in the end, they're almost all geared towards making love work and making love last.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Do you hear how Robin Thicke answered that? Robin Thicke said, I'm always trying to make black music. He said he's. I forgot how you said. But you said you're part of a culture.

[Robin Thicke]

I want to be. Yeah. You know, I mean, and I think that's why I have some barbecue status. Yes, you do, because I don't. I don't. I still have never. I did one song where I chased pop music, and. And I don't perform it live. You know what I mean? Because it's just not who I. Who I am.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I bought it up because, you know, Jack Harlow, he just put out, like, a. He's calling it a neo soul.

[Robin Thicke]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

R B album. And, like, he did an interview and he said that the music made him blacker or something like that.

[Sting]

Like.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Like. Like, what are your thoughts on the situation as a. As a white person who's been accepted in the space for so long?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, for me, I think that's just, you know, it. It all starts from inspiration. You know, I grew up in the Eddie Murphy, Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, 80s, you know what I mean? So to me, that. That was the pinnacle of art and of greatness and Michael Jordan, I mean, all that. So those are the people I had on my wall, you know? And so I've. I've always, honestly, and from the bottom of my heart wanted to be a part and be accepted into that world and culture, because I respect and admire and love it so much.

[Charlamagne tha God]

And I also think that what helps you is the music was good.

[Robin Thicke]

Yes.

[Charlamagne tha God]

No disrespect the Jack. So the music ain't that good. Like, the music has to be good. Especially if you are of another race doing that music. They gotta hear it and be like, oh, that's a bop.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You know?

[Robin Thicke]

No, you know, you can't. You can't fool it. You know what I mean? You gotta. You gotta come. Come real. But I think what he's doing is. I think it still shows love for the game, it still shows love for the culture. And then everybody else. It's all perspective after that, you know?

[Charlamagne tha God]

How did you feel, Shaggy, when you first heard Snow?

[Sting]

Well, it's funny you brought up that,

[Shaggy]

because Jamaica within itself has always been a culture. I. I find in certain other cultures, it's. It has to be them alone and not someone else, you know, I mean, Jamaica is one of the few and regime is one of the few cultures that embraces everybody. There's a guy called Naki.

[Sting]

I don't know if you ever heard of this guy. He's a Japanese dancehall artist. I played wow.

[Shaggy]

Was massive. Was massive. Came to Jamaica, came to Jamaica and he literally dominated Jamaica people. He would walk up on the biggest stage shows and rip it. There's another guy called Dominic, was a white English dancehall dj, used to come down there and come on Sunsplash. And then he comes on staying on

[Sting]

all the roughest stages and we just

[Shaggy]

pick him up pure, you know. And you got Apache Indian, who was

[Sting]

a guy that did dance all he

[Shaggy]

did a song called Boom Shakalak was a massive number one globally. And he got the whole Indian market to come turn on to dance hall and reggae, you know. Matter of fact, if you look at all the big reggae bands right now, they're all white, really 100%, you know. The biggest reggae band, right, I think is Revolution, you know, out of California, you know. I mean, matter of fact, take for instance the ones that sold over 10 millions red red wine with UB40. They're white.

[Sting]

You know, I.

[Shaggy]

If you think about the police, who was, you know, kind of a reggae band.

[Robin Thicke]

Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Sting]

They're all white, you know, and even

[Shaggy]

stink said and say, yeah, you know,

[Sting]

we got played because we were white. We got on radio, you know what I'm saying?

[Shaggy]

You look at, you know, Acer Bass. Another white white band. Matter of fact, me and Sean Paul is only probably two Bob. Me and Bob only two big diamond sellers that were Jamaican. Jamaican, you know. I mean. But we as a culture have always embraced it. Yeah, they come to Jamaica and we love them just the same. Because our motto, it's on my ring

[Sting]

where you see these. That is my. The crest of Jamaica. What it says is out of many one people.

[Shaggy]

So my grandmother was white, you know. I mean, you see a Chinese guy look straight Chinese and walk up and say, yo, everything good, yo. Yeah, I mean, just like, you know, I mean, we are used to that. The guy in my school, a primary school with me was this Chinese guy and this Indian guy and this, you know, you got Jewish people, you got everything. It's all there. That's why it's automating one one, one one people. And it's kind of out of anyone music in the same. If the earlier days you saw the

[Sting]

Stones used to be down In Jamaica, all these people used to come down there and they make record embraces that.

[Shaggy]

Matter of fact, even with Sting, Every

[Sting]

Breath youh Take and.

[Shaggy]

And.

[Sting]

And some of those earlier songs were all written in Jamaica.

[Shaggy]

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. So I'm just saying we as a culture have always been that, you know, I mean, I see in some cultures where, you know, there. There'd be one. One set of people don't like the set of people. And just. And just a bit like for.

[Sting]

Even in Africa you live. If you would you remember the whole controversy one of. Take, for instance, a Tyler. You know, I mean, she's from there.

[Shaggy]

And then you have other people in another side of, like, oh, well, she ain't the real thing. We, like. We just embrace it all, you know, I mean, and just kind of bring it. So for me, I.

[Sting]

You know, I embrace all of that,

[Shaggy]

you know, and that.

[Sting]

Because that's how I ended up blowing

[Shaggy]

up also is me going. Doing music. I couldn't have gotten on radio unless I started to sample like, you know, Marvin Gaye and put it on the.

[Sting]

On the. A bombastic, you know, I mean, or

[Shaggy]

Peter Guns or Green Onions and. And get on radio. I had to do those kinds of things.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Don't talk about sampling Marvin Gaye at a time.

[Sting]

Clear mine, though. Okay.

[Shaggy]

As long as you clear it.

[Advertisement Voice]

Yes.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Okay.

[Shaggy]

You see, that's the problem when you don't clear it. It, you know, I mean. And we got Bill with us right now.

[Robin Thicke]

Right, but we cleared it.

[Shaggy]

Right, Exactly. You know, I mean, shout.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

Shout out to his estate man and

[Sting]

his wife is lovely. You know, I mean.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Robin, did all the controversy around Blurred Lines impact you creatively in any way? Just your approach to the game?

[Robin Thicke]

I'm sure it does. It. It's. Whether it's subliminal or, you know, or overt. But I think in the end, I. I don't really. I always have to have enough faith in myself that another great song is coming. The next great song is coming. Just keep feeling. Keep sharing. Luckily, you know, I can sing. So sometimes, like with this record, I really didn't add that much writing. He sent me the record and I was like, man, this sounds. This sounds great. I would love, you know, let me just sing this and see how I sound on it. And, you know, like I said, we're not reinventing the wheel with this one, but with. But I do. I do just keep telling myself today could be the day you write Another loss without you Today could be the day you Write another Sweetest Love or whatever. One of your best. And so you just keep hitting the piano and keep hitting it, you know, and then sooner or later, something will come up.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

When you got that kind of catalog, I mean, you can eat forever.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Even if it's off performance.

[Robin Thicke]

But it's the love. Yeah.

[Shaggy]

Tell me about the other catalog that he just told me about.

[Sting]

And damn. In his damn dressing room, all them records he used to write before he blew up. Oh, wow.

[Robin Thicke]

Well, yeah, a lot of people don't know that. I started at 16 as a writer, so. So I wrote for Brandy, Christine Aguilera. Come on, Robin Pink, Mark Anthony, Michael Jackson, Usher, Confessions. That was all before I released my own music. Yeah. So I started very early.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I knew you wrote.

[Robin Thicke]

I heard that before. I got really lucky. I never wrote the hit song, but I was on their biggest albums. I was on Mark Anthony's biggest album. I was on Christina's. Pink's biggest album. Brandy's biggest album. So I got really lucky early on.

[Shaggy]

So you know who buying lunch today?

[Charlamagne tha God]

Favorite album artist.

[Interviewer/Host]

These are some of my favorite artists. That's what's up.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Robin.

[Interviewer/Host]

I'm telling you right now.

[Shaggy]

I.

[Interviewer/Host]

The evolution of Robin Thick and sex therapy. No skip albums.

[Shaggy]

Like.

[Robin Thicke]

Oh, thank the new one. That's what I'm working on. The new one. I'm making sure there's no skips.

[Shaggy]

That's why. That's why you take long to do them.

[Sting]

That's why you got to make sure they're right.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You said you wrote on Color Me Bads.

[Robin Thicke]

I did. I wrote Color Me Bads. They there when they came out with the. Their new album and we had the first single. It was called sexual Something sexual.

[Charlamagne tha God]

He kind of. He kind of.

[Robin Thicke]

When I was working with them, I was 16.

[Charlamagne tha God]

What was the least thing in that group?

[Robin Thicke]

I forgot to forget their names. Yeah, but he.

[Charlamagne tha God]

He kind of walked so you could run because he was like the first white guy we saw that had, like.

[Robin Thicke]

Because that was a real. Because that was a new Jack City soundtrack.

[Shaggy]

Yes.

[Robin Thicke]

Mash. That was not just a white group making a black. They want a black film that you know and. Andre.

[Podcast Sponsor Voice]

This episode is brought to you by Spreaker, the platform responsible for a rapidly spreading condition known as podcast brain. Symptoms include buying microphones you don't need, explaining RSS feeds to confused relatives and saying things like, sorry, I can't talk right now. I'm editing audio. If this sounds familiar, you're probably already a podcaster. The good news is Spreaker Makes the whole process simple. You record your show, upload it once, and Spreaker distributes it everywhere. People listen. Apple podcasts Spotify in about a dozen apps your cousin swears are the next big thing. Even better, Spreaker helps you monetize your show with ads, meaning your podcast might someday pay for, well, more microphones. Start your show [e-mail] spreaker because if you're going to talk to yourself for an hour, you might as well publish it.

[Sting]

Segregation in the day, integration at night.

[Podcast Host]

When segregation was the law, one mysterious black club owner had his own own rules.

[Interviewer/Host]

We didn't worry about what went on outside.

[Shaggy]

It was like stepping in another world.

[Podcast Host]

Inside Charlie's place, black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it.

[Robin Thicke]

You saw the kkk.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, they was dressed up in their uniform.

[Shaggy]

The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example power they had to crush him.

[Podcast Host]

From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's Place, a story that was nearly lost to time. Until now. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Robin Thicke]

u n D. Well, my mentor produced. Produced that movies New Jack City. So. So that was. Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Is it hard putting out music when somebody like Andre isn't here? Because I know you used to run a lot of stuff by him.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, that was. He was my lifetime creative partner. And not just that, but I realized that a lot of the people I thought were my friends were just his friends.

[Shaggy]

Damn.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Up Andre. Pat. Like I need to lock.

[Robin Thicke]

You don't want to come to my birthday birthday party. But no, I realized that everybody loved Andre. People like me. But everybody loved Andre because he was so helpful and informative and inspiring and every time he saw somebody, he would tell you something that would help your life and career. He would just give away free knowledge. Everybody's a hustler, especially out here in New York, and they're not going to give you any advice for Free and help your career without getting something from it. He just gave away knowledge all day long. Everywhere he went, he helped people. And so for me, if I want to get Nas on my new record. Dre, where you at? I need you to call Nas for me. You know what I mean? I, I, he had everybody, so I do, I do miss not just the. The knowledge he would give me while I'm making the records. Like, you need some horns on this. I need some horns. You know, just those little things he would tell me that would help me take my records from one notch to the next. But really, his friendship and his guidance and his connections and everything I miss. He was like my second father, you know, I love that he taught me how to walk and talk. Like, I remember. He's. When I first started performing, he went up on the stage, grabbed me.

[Shaggy]

You need to do this and come

[Robin Thicke]

over here and walk over here and do a shake and do like. He taught me how to dress. The guy taught me everything how, even me. We met a guy named Pete Farm. He was coming to LA to start a new label with Baby Face called New America. And he had a. A young singer who was more like a. Like a dancer who could sing, you know, from down in Orlando. And he came to listen to records for that guy, and I played him a couple songs, and I sang live. And he was like, wait a second. Are you making an album? So from that moment, we just started working on my album, and he became my best friend from that moment on. Wow. Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Hey, y', all call Robin back, man. All the people that was ignoring Robin after Andre, you do have the kind of name you got to delete out of a phone, though, Robin. Because if you forget that E. Yeah. And your girl see that call Robin. Who the is Robin? Why she thinks, like,

[Robin Thicke]

That's funny.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I do wonder, how do collaborations like this help y' all stay creatively fresh?

[Shaggy]

Oh, for me, man,

[Sting]

I don't.

[Shaggy]

Mike, if you look, the track record

[Sting]

of my collaborations are normally I use, like, just regular artists, new artists coming up.

[Shaggy]

Like, you know. You know, angel was me and Rayvon, and Rayvon wasn't a big artist or anything like that, but we did Big up, and we did angel and we did Summertime, and those are all, you know, hit records. And then we. I did On It Wasn't Me, I did Rick Rock, who is also an unknown artist. Recently, I did banana over 2 billion stream with an unknown artist by the name of Conqueror. You know, so I always find, you know, good on there with Spy With Spice, a big artist. But, you know, maybe I always just go with local artists because that's where my access was. And sometimes I can't deal with the drama of dealing with the big artists because it comes with, you know, well, I want four first class tickets for my assistant and my dogs and it's like I'm yo, bro. You know what I mean? So most of my collaborations come from just sheer friendship. You know, I struck up a friendship with Robin and I must say, I even said it to you when you walked into that. I shook hand. I said, it's great. It's refreshing to be promoting the record

[Sting]

with a guy that's pro. Like, he shows up on time, he does roll with a bunch of people.

[Shaggy]

He just comes in, he tells you

[Sting]

all the stuff he's gonna do and just, and just be on it. I'm not used to even on local artists that have the, you know, I'm seeing 30 people walk in with him. It's like, yo, bro, what we doing? You know what I'm saying? So it's based on friendship, like with me and Sting. We're genuine friends.

[Shaggy]

I mean, it was a friendship.

[Robin Thicke]

Well, you know, I got to be honest. And I think the reason that a lot of people can last or that some people last in this business is who they are, you know, and he's a great guy, you know, and he's just a great human being. He's kind, he's warm hearted, he makes great music. You know, I, I joke that Shaggy's music is like donuts. It's like, it's yummy, it tastes good, it makes you feel good. Everybody loves donuts. Shaggy's music just tastes good and feels good.

[Shaggy]

Thank you, sir.

[Sting]

Yeah, appreciate it.

[Robin Thicke]

For me, this kind of a record and the reason I did it is it's a nice bridge for me, like, you know, because there's so much pressure when you're putting out a new project, especially you haven't put out nothing out in years and blah, blah. So I'm holding on to this album. I'm a little nervous. I'm trying to make the visual visuals, I'm trying to get everything right. But I'm scared. This record gives me a little bit of, okay, we on the charts, people feeling it, they liking it. Okay. Gives me a little momentum, you know, I can, I can hop on the, the train with my new stuff and, and feel a little extra confidence instead of sitting at home going, I don't know if anyone's going to get this or like, it Maybe I shouldn't put it out. So having a nice, just feel good record now gives me more confidence to put up my next stop.

[Shaggy]

And it's good to share the load.

[Sting]

You know what I'm saying?

[Shaggy]

It's good to share the load.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah.

[Podcast Sponsor Voice]

With Mr.

[Robin Thicke]

Thick.

[Charlamagne tha God]

That's crazy talk,

[Robin Thicke]

Man. I totally. We totally mess up. Because my mom was telling me a story the other day where she tried to make sure that I had a name that you couldn't make fun of at school. And then when they. They gave the lady the name Robin Allen Thick, she came back and she goes, so how is our little rat? She goes, oh, no, we named him rit.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

But I messed up.

[Robin Thicke]

I messed up even worse. I messed up even worse. My wife's middle name is Love. Her name is April Love, right? So we decided to give my daughter the middle name Love, after her mom. But then we didn't realize that her name is Mia Love Thicke. And now she gonna go. She gonna go to school with Mia Love Thick.

[Shaggy]

Damn.

[Robin Thicke]

Oh, God.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Oh, my God. Jesus Christ.

[Robin Thicke]

We done ruined her high school experience quite bad.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I do want to know, Robert, why, before we get out here, why are you scared? What are you scared of?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, you know, I think it's just a natural feeling of. Of when you've had ups and downs and you. And you wonder how people are going to respond, and you just want to get it right. You want to connect again. You know, that. That. That time when evolution was out and what I was saying was connecting, and it was helping people with the toughest times in their lives and their relationships. That's why I wrote it, because it helped me with it. My toughest times. So you want that connection to happen again, and if the first single doesn't hit, they stop spending money. And then the blah, blah, then the record, then the other songs that have a lot of, you know, truth and. And importance to you, they. They don't get heard, you know, so. So I just want to get it right. And this at least is like a. It's just a nice. You know, it's just a swing out to the fences to go, hey, we're out here. We're making music. We're feeling good.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

We're having a good time. And then I can follow this with my own stuff.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I don't even know what success looks like nowadays, though. Like. Like, is it. Is it a billion screams? Is it a number one record? Like, I don't even know what that is anymore.

[Shaggy]

How I feel it is. I've Had a. I have a fan base.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And when I'm. I tour a lot because I, I do it because I love it.

[Sting]

You know, I mean, I, I'm.

[Shaggy]

I'm a guy that if you ask me what part of the whole business I like, you know, I write great songs, I'd be in the studio. But I love touring. I like being in front of an audience. It's the most honest and raw.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

Feeling that you could get. Their opinions is real when it's coming at you. And I have to feed that. And they want music from me.

[Sting]

Right.

[Shaggy]

So it doesn't matter whether it's a stream or not. When I go out and I'm singing

[Sting]

and my audience is front, in front of me and they're loving and singing that song with me, that's winning for me.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Sting]

That's. That's my success now.

[Shaggy]

If it hits a charts and it goes up and all that, it's.

[Sting]

It's fine. I've had records that. Albums that my favorite album is not the big selling album that I do on, on Hotshot.

[Shaggy]

And I mean, I have other albums and I was like, yo, this is just way better.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And I mean, and I do it. But my fans that are in front of me, they know those records. And to me that's feeding the beast. That's what the success is for me.

[Interviewer/Host]

And that's what I wanted to say to you, Robin. I think it's the impact, right. What success for you would be. Because even going back to the evolution of Robin Thicke, my parents were going through a little crazy time in their marriage. And that album on Constant repeat, no Skip was. You know what I'm saying? That's how I listened to it. I'm like, oh, and then you had sex. Came back up, followed up with sex therapy. And I think that's where you were at that point in your life to make that type of music. So where you're at now where you say you're holding onto the album because you know you scared and everything. I think who you are, just your authentic self. Like a lot of people are going through what you're, what you're speaking to in this album. So just drop that shit.

[Robin Thicke]

No, I am. It's ready. I think this was. But you know how God works in mysterious ways. And I had a hiccup with a distribution company. So I was working on a new distribution company and I was wondering, I'm like, why is it taking so long? Why do I feel like I'm sitting still? And then this happened. And now this might be exactly what God was having me wait for. Because now I've got. I've got Shaggy. I can ride his coattails for a minute, you know what I mean? Get out here, do some interviews, get the new record out, and then I can feel that confidence building to go, okay, now I'm coming back with my own stuff, you know, So I think it all helps, you know, everything. One. One success begets another. Success and confidence in momentum all. All matters, you know?

[Charlamagne tha God]

How did you know when you wanted to get married again?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, you know, we. We had a lot of love very early, and we wanted to start a family early, so we had three kids in three years. And so it was more.

[Shaggy]

You got tv, man. Yeah,

[Robin Thicke]

Netflix. Yeah, we were Netflix. And no chill. But, yeah, I think that I. I mean, we were together, so it wasn't really about the marriage as much as we wanted to start a family. And then once we had the three kids, I wanted to wait until the kids were old enough to see us get married. Because if they got married, if we get married when they're one years old, they don't have any recollection or memory, but at least they were 6 and 7 years old, so the girls got to walk the aisle and, you know, and all that. So now it's a real memory for the whole family.

[Shaggy]

That close behind each other, you get no sleep. That close. An age behind, man, it's crazy.

[Robin Thicke]

But you. But you gotta love it. And for me, like I said, like, this is the time in my life where this is what gives me me daily. It makes me want to be a better man and do the right thing every day. So it's. It's the right time for the right reasons.

[Shaggy]

Amen.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I heard you mentioned earlier that, you know, your. Your parents had gotten divorced and you didn't want to recreate that. So did you feel like, I don't know, a failure?

[Robin Thicke]

Well, I already did. Yeah. Because. Because, you know, all. It didn't work and. But our son is thriving and doing great. She's an incredible mom. I. I'm trying to be an incredible dad. And so now I don't want to do that again, especially with three kids and I'm made. And that didn't work. And so it's just about. And you learn, you know, you learn that there's some done better and some things were just meant to be. Like, I. I do love my life, and I love that I have three extra kids, you know, and that wasn't something that necessarily. Paul And I were going to do is have more children. So it all worked out in, in the best way for, for us separately. But, but yeah, I think you just, you're learning along the way, you know, and, and like I said, the harder things get, once you get through that, you're only stronger and you're only better, you know, and you love yourself more. I think this is finally the period of my life where I'm learning to just love myself as opposed to search for love from everyone else and search for affirmation. You know, the guys that I, the patriarchs that I wanted to impress and, and hang out with are gone. So now, you know, it's like it's all up to me to try to find that inspiration and, and, and, and do it for my kids.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

So they can have a great life and lead by example. That's the thing that I realized I was messing up is I got to lead by example. You can't just tell them what to do and then go act like a fool. You have to lead by example.

[Charlamagne tha God]

When you're a parent, I guess nobody ever talks about that when it comes to you. When you think about probably the levels of grief you experienced. Right. Your father and then Andre, I went

[Robin Thicke]

through, I do a speech on stage. I had these years where I got divorced and sued. Then my father passed, then my manager passed, then my house burned down, then Andre Harrell passed. That was five years in a row of tragedy, tragedy, tragedy, tragedy, tragedy. And you know, I almost, that's what I was saying, I almost lost. It was looking into my kids faces every day and saying, you know, this is, is worth being your very best for them.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne tha God]

What do you think God was trying to show you in that five years, man?

[Robin Thicke]

I think God was saying you've had it fairly easy up till now. Even though you thought you struggled, you struggled internally. You've still had a good father, a good mother, you know, good schools, lots of friends, a nice voice. You know what I mean? And so I think that that was just who are you when, when you're challenged? Who are you when the road gets rough, you know? And now I've found out that I like myself better now that I went through those times than I did when I hadn't gone through them and thought I deserved more. I was entitled to a certain life. Now I don't feel that I'm entitled to anything. I feel like I have to earn everything I get. Yeah. A little bit of therapy, you know,

[Charlamagne tha God]

and real therapy, not sex therapy.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah, yeah, real, real Therapy. Yeah, but the sex therapy helps. The sex therapy helps.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yes, it does.

[Shaggy]

It does.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah. I think it's just, you know, you got to look in the mirror, and you have to. You have to really be honest with yourself, and you have to be able to say, you know what? You didn't handle that right. You could have done that better. You can change that about your personality. You got to own it. And lately, I've really found a place of calm and of peace and. And of patience that I think I'd never had before, you know, and the kids kind of bring that out of you because you see yourself in them. Once they start acting like you the. The bad sides, you're like, wait a second.

[Shaggy]

You.

[Robin Thicke]

That's me. You're doing right now. So you just kind of fix yourself along the way.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah, now. Now I truly want to do all that.

[Shaggy]

Aging is good. Absolutely gives you perspective, if you're lucky to make it.

[Robin Thicke]

And, you know, I live. I lived. I lived the rock star lifestyle. And then you see Ozzy Osbourne and the way he lived. But. And he only made it to 70, even though he tried to fix his. His health 15, 20 years early. So, you know, I'm. I'm approaching 50. And, you know, and for right now, I'm like, the only thing that matters is being around another 30.

[Shaggy]

It does catch up on you, though.

[Robin Thicke]

That is real.

[Shaggy]

I find myself doing some things now. I'm like, man, I can't believe, you know, I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't. You know, I mean, I get up in the morning, I hit the gym really hard every morning. I'm like, even when I.

[Sting]

And I hate every and all the

[Shaggy]

people, like, oh, I feel great when

[Sting]

I'm in the gym and I'm good.

[Shaggy]

Suck.

[Robin Thicke]

Last year, I just tried to change my diet, change my head, and make health my priority. So. So being with my priority as opposed to does everyone love me?

[Shaggy]

You know, but your body tells you you kind of have to. Yeah, because after you start going, certain things ain't starting to feel right. Once you make those changes, you realize how you just feel different. I was like, oh, well, I guess this is a lifestyle check, you know? Yeah, that's what it is.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Did you ever feel like that, Shaggy? Did you ever feel like, I need everybody to love me all the time?

[Shaggy]

Like, nah, I wasn't.

[Sting]

I wasn't that kind of guy that. That, you know, because I was always around people who kind of bring me

[Shaggy]

down to make themselves feel better, you know?

[Robin Thicke]

What I'm saying.

[Shaggy]

So it was always, you know, oh, you can't do it. Why can't you? Can't do it.

[Robin Thicke]

You know?

[Shaggy]

So that was my. I had to get. I had people to come in to my life. Like, I said, Sting came into my life, and. And when you look at a guy at that stature saying that, you. I remember me and him being. And he was like, yeah, you know. Yeah, I met Shaggy, and this guy is a genius. And I'm like, what did you just say? It just kind of like, I'm a what? You know, I mean, and I'm glad. I'm like, no one has ever said that to me. But to see this guy would say that, I was like, bro, you're one of the great.

[Sting]

So now I'm doing a play right now, which is. It's called the Last Ship with me and Sting. Why would you hear

[Shaggy]

the Last Ship?

[Charlamagne tha God]

Okay.

[Sting]

And we did Amsterdam to get us sold out. We just came back from Paris, sold

[Shaggy]

out, him and me.

[Robin Thicke]

And it comes here in June, right?

[Sting]

In June.

[Shaggy]

It's here at the Met in June.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

You put a suit on, I'm there.

[Sting]

God damn.

[Charlamagne tha God]

What's it about?

[Shaggy]

It's about his childhood.

[Sting]

You know, back in the days, they used to build ships in England, and

[Shaggy]

about 80% of the ships in the

[Sting]

world used to be built out of there.

[Shaggy]

And then after a while, just with, you know, technology and economy, everything closed down. And it's kind of what's happening now. People losing their jobs based on. On AI and stuff like that. So it's very relatable in that sense. And it's really a story about, you know, how those shipyard was closing. It's the last ship. And now everybody gathered around, even though they was gonna cancel the ship, but everybody in the yard decided, we gonna finish this ship. And I mean. And even they work without pay and did everything and went ahead and finished the ship. There's also a love story in there to a guy that went back. So it was really, really good. And I've never done theater before. And Sting just called me and says, yo, you know, I wrote this role for you. I want you to be on it. I'm like, yo, bro, I ain't never. What do you talk about?

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And it was like, no, I could do it. And then, you know, I mean, can you imagine? You know, these are trained actors, you know.

[Sting]

You know, it was like, you know,

[Shaggy]

but he believed in me so much, and I got like, you know, right

[Sting]

when I was doing rehearsal, the hurricane Happened in Jamaica.

[Shaggy]

And so I had to go and, you know, go do my thing there. So I couldn't do rehearsals.

[Charlamagne tha God]

So you still got on there.

[Shaggy]

Killed it. But I went on there and I had one dress rehearsal, and the next day. Next one was a show, and the next day was press day. And I just went in there and I just kind of killed it.

[Robin Thicke]

And you got a movie, too. I'm telling you, the acting thing.

[Sting]

I told you a couple of things that's working into.

[Shaggy]

So we're working on a couple of things here. Things are just coming to you.

[Interviewer/Host]

That's amazing.

[Shaggy]

It's just coming to you. You know, I mean. And I'm just kind of like, you

[Sting]

know, going in and out on it. But it's good. You gotta come see that. It's at the mid.

[Interviewer/Host]

Absolutely.

[Sting]

Yeah. Ninth to the 14th.

[Shaggy]

You know, I mean, I'm going to Australia, too. We're doing Australia. I'm leaving in the end of this month of June.

[Charlamagne tha God]

June, okay.

[Shaggy]

And in next month, I'm going to

[Sting]

Australia for four weeks with the play also.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Wow.

[Sting]

So I'm doing the musical also. So there's a lot of things, you know. So Sting was one of those people who.

[Shaggy]

Who really helped my confidence.

[Sting]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And I mean, let me do. I mean, the guy made me do a Sinatra album in reggae.

[Charlamagne tha God]

What makes your partnership work so well?

[Shaggy]

You know what? Charlemagne.

[Sting]

God. Just have some things and put people in your way. I can't tell you why I.

[Shaggy]

Him and I went to do one song together. He walked in singing a song, and then he looks at me and says, produce me, Shaggy. Produce me the way you're supposed to be. Because it's reggae. Cut them vocals.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

But in that session, I ended up. How we ended up having just way so much fun.

[Sting]

It was more fun than work in

[Shaggy]

the session that we walked out of there and said, we don't want it to stop.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Shaggy]

And we just ended up moving from that to making an album and a tour. And then he's just like my best friend, and I'm talking to him every week.

[Robin Thicke]

And my wife yesterday, she was like, you guys, she. She loves the new song because I didn't play it for her until it was done and it was out. And she says, I love the new song. You and Shaggy should do more records together.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Absolutely.

[Robin Thicke]

Maybe Shaggy just has that.

[Shaggy]

Absolutely.

[Robin Thicke]

That effect on everybody.

[Shaggy]

Yeah. I mean, he comes in and everybody's called me about. It's something else. Every new idea it comes up is like, shaggy, what do you think of this? Let's do this, you know, I mean, and I'm, you know, I'm like ultimate wingman. Let's go. Whatever it.

[Sting]

And it's uncomfortable these position day.

[Shaggy]

But like me, where am I? I'm not a singer like that. But he was like, oh yeah. And taught me how.

[Robin Thicke]

I've heard your singing records is strong, man.

[Sting]

I know.

[Robin Thicke]

You wouldn't even know.

[Shaggy]

Yeah, but I was, I was always

[Sting]

a dance all toaster like, you know, I mean, but I never really.

[Shaggy]

Because I had people around me that if I come into a song where I'm singing because I used to do

[Sting]

background on some of my stuff.

[Shaggy]

If I do this day up, I

[Sting]

had people must do.

[Shaggy]

It's like this, think he's Luther Vandross now. Life is one big party when you're still young. I mean, it's, it's singing.

[Sting]

But for me, you know, back in the times, it's like, yo, people was

[Shaggy]

like, no, you can't do that because

[Sting]

I'm from the sound systems of dancer, you know, so, so yeah, he was

[Shaggy]

a big, big helper doing that, man.

[Interviewer/Host]

I love it.

[Charlamagne tha God]

My last question. What did each of you learn from working together that y' all will carry into future projects and, and just in life, period?

[Sting]

I love, I love Rob's professionalism.

[Shaggy]

I've said that to you multiple times. Even though the phone.

[Sting]

I, I, you know, I, I, it's,

[Shaggy]

it is so it makes me have

[Sting]

hope in the game that there's, that

[Shaggy]

this thing could still, you know, satisfy me. And, and I'm inspired by how professionally is. I mean, you showed up in the video. He came to the video by himself.

[Sting]

He just kind of rolled up and

[Shaggy]

I was like, I gave up my,

[Robin Thicke]

my personal assistant money for, for school.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

He just showed up.

[Shaggy]

Boom. He did everything. Boom, boom. I was out. I was like, yo, bro.

[Robin Thicke]

You know, I heard that in this documentary years ago that Chuck Berry was like that, that he would just show up and, and all he had was his guitar case and, and he would just show up by himself, get with the house band and go on to the next show. And I was like, that sound like I need.

[Interviewer/Host]

That's right.

[Shaggy]

But it's inspirational. Like I'm, I'm like.

[Robin Thicke]

And I got that from my dad. You know, my dad was a workaholic.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

I mean, even when he was in his 60s, he would, if he had some coming out, he would do a 42 radio show promotion campaign, you know what I mean, and fly all over the place. And, and so I just learned from him. Show up on time, treat people right. You know what I mean? And. And that's why working with Shaggy, I love that, too, because I've worked with a handful of people that I'm like, all right, I don't want to work with with them again.

[Shaggy]

That's me.

[Robin Thicke]

But he's just a great guy, Easygoing. He's a real, you know, real human being. And that. That makes a difference.

[Charlamagne tha God]

That's a jewel right there. I tell people all the time, if somebody says, you're a pleasure to work with, oh, you always going start there.

[Shaggy]

But so much about surviving in. In. In this game is relationships are important.

[Robin Thicke]

When I got the Math singer, the TV show, you know, I was coming off the. A little bit of the blurred lines, drama and divorce and some of that stuff. So they met with me. They liked me, but they went and asked Nick. Nick Cannon. Now, Nick and I had done the Real Husbands of Hollywood with Kevin Hart, so we had that rapport. So when they asked Nick, what's it like working with Robin, he was like, robin's the best. You're gonna love working with him. And so if. If that wasn't the case, if I was a jerk on Real Husbands, then I wouldn't have gotten mad singer. And so to autumn young cats out there, like, it doesn't matter if you're at the height of your game or what. You got to treat people right.

[Shaggy]

Hey, be nice on the way up, because you're gonna see them on the way down.

[Charlamagne tha God]

This is the final question. Do you regret putting out blur lines?

[Robin Thicke]

Oh, no, of course not. I mean, still, when I perform, that's the. That's the magic. Like, I wait till the end, and as soon as I go, everybody get up. From an R B show to a dance show. You know, that's right. And so I think that it's more about. My goal is to make the audience feel good. And that song is still one of the tops, you know, when I perform that, it makes people feel good. So I don't care what else came with it, as long as the people feel it.

[Sting]

There are many songs that I've done that I've lost 100 publishing, like, even on Angel.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Wow.

[Shaggy]

Yeah.

[Sting]

Because I.

[Shaggy]

You couldn't get dance hall and reggae on radio, so I had to use samples and interpolations to get on radio. And I mean. And so I knew, you know, they're

[Sting]

like five avenues of income, you know?

[Shaggy]

I mean, you got. You got the writer's part, right? But then it's a new master so you get in the master portion, you get in the sinks. Yeah. You know, I mean, you get in sound exchange, you know, you get so, you know, it's not. It's. It's okay. Yeah, you lose in the publishing part of it, but you still gain. And I gained a crime. And I mean, so for me, it's a win, you know? I mean, so he could never look at that record in that way of like, yo. Because it changed your life.

[Robin Thicke]

And also, the challenges that came after that have made me a stronger, better man.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You know what I mean?

[Robin Thicke]

And that's my point, is that if I hadn't faced everything that came from Blurred Lines and after who knows where, I might have just lost my mind.

[Sting]

Yeah.

[Robin Thicke]

Yeah. I mean, but luckily I had to be grounded because life threw me some. Some challenges and some wrenches. And then I went, like I said, five years in a row of tragedies. So why, for whatever reason that's happened to me, I like myself. I mean, I'd love to be, you know, back on top with another number one, but I like myself more now than I did back then.

[Charlamagne tha God]

In the grand scheme of things, what happened with that song pales in comparison

[Robin Thicke]

to everything else, I would think now for sure. Because now my kids like that song. Won't nearly matter as much is my kid help that's helping pay for their school.

[Sting]

And 100% of zero is still zero, bro.

[Shaggy]

You know? I mean, so at the end of

[Robin Thicke]

the day, I'm not good at math,

[Sting]

but it sounds right, you know? I mean, if.

[Charlamagne tha God]

If you said that, though, Shaggy, that don't sound too encouraging.

[Sting]

Well, I'm saying.

[Shaggy]

Because some people might think that. Oh, yeah, because you lost the publishing, you lose.

[Sting]

You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying?

[Shaggy]

You. You got a.

[Sting]

You still got the lion share last time you had a pizza.

[Shaggy]

If you have over 50%, you're still winning.

[Sting]

You know what I'm saying?

[Charlamagne tha God]

100 of zero is still zero.

[Sting]

Yeah. So I'm saying, even.

[Shaggy]

Even though you might think that you

[Sting]

didn't get 100 of the record.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Got you.

[Sting]

You still. You know what I'm saying? That's how I'm looking.

[Charlamagne tha God]

I don't know what you're saying. It don't matter, okay? Because it's all about looking lovely.

[Shaggy]

Yes.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

Looking lovely, gentleman in May.

[Charlamagne tha God]

All right, we're gonna play Looking Lovely right now. You want to throw it to a Shaggy?

[Robin Thicke]

Let's do it.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

We on the Breakfast Club. You know how we go. Big up Jack's hilarious in the house. Yeah, we got Robin Thicke in the house. Charlamagne, the God, the mage king isn't here, but, yo, we gonna drop it anyway. Yo, looking lovely, Shaggy. Robin Thicke, turn up your radio. Make sure you're.

[Shaggy]

Oh, your window's got to be down, too.

[Breakfast Club Producer/Assistant]

Yeah. Breakfast Club.

[Interviewer/Host]

I love it.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Every day I wake up, Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club.

[Podcast Host]

This is an I heart podcast, guaranteed.