Robin Thicke: Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. and Pharrell)
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Pros:
White background, sharp suits, comical relief - checkCons:
The constant showcases of Twitter friendly hashtags aren't exactly friendly to the video; the same applies to the geeky dance movesSoft comedy, sexy boobs and hashtags all wrapped in one on Thicke’s below-the-belt blow at JT
Soft comedy, sexy boobs and hashtags all wrapped in one on Thicke’s below-the-belt blow at JT
Sex sells. I get it.
And in today’s world of R&B, it sells even more. Hell, it’s the sex in the music that overrides much of the often-sampled material anyway, as originality becomes more and more a thing of the past.
Robin Thicke is caught between a rock and a hard place right now. And no, I’m not referencing his “big D” – which his referenced in the YouTube-barred version of his music video to “Blurred Lines.” The rock is Justin Timberlake, who just awoke from his bear nap and stole the thunder from desperate R&B singers trying to get in on his reinvigorated “bring back the old school” style. JT isn’t playing with pop on his latest round. Instead, he’s playing with the R&B that Robin Thicke once mastered, yet sadly crept away from since he decided to get naughty on 2009’s Sex Therapy. Since then, Thicke’s career has been dwindling away from the spotlight, and that is the hard place. And he tried to revive it by appearing as a judge on ABC’s short-lived Duets. Fast forward to 2011 and Thicke is trying to clean up his image with Love After War. It reacquainted him with the swagger of Marvin Gaye, but didn’t scratch a dent on the charts in sales, leaving him with his platinum-selling breakthrough LP The Evolution of Robin Thicke as his only cash cow.
I’m not exactly sure why Thicke’s camp are acting so shocked that the nude [NSFW] version of “Blurred Lines” was banned from YouTube. There’s a few Vogue models prancing around with exposed breasts and ass like it was in the running for America’s Next Top Model – Playboy Edition. In the safer abridged version, now available at YouTube and Vevo, the girls are dancing around in plastic and being teased by horny guest stars T.I. and Pharrell Williams, which the latter produced. But publicity teams like the sound of controversy, especially when it’s going to shed light on something that’s falling inch by inch into a deep well. The song itself sounds like a Timbaland creation, which probably explains why pop media blogger Perez Hilton foolishly branded the video as a Tim production. And it’s not a bad jam. Play it after “Suit & Tie” and you’re probably going to think that Thicke has found his “Got to Give It Up.” MJ “oohs” highlight the entire track, giving it an instant come-hither effect. He’s still trying too hard to sound hard on the ear of blacks, by shouting out lines like “You the hottest bitch in this place/I feel so lucky/You wanna hug me/What rhymes with hug me?” The video tries to turn things up a notch, but it seems to fall into the everlong pile of popstar gimmickry. The constant flashing of the hashtags #thicke and #blurredlines looks like last-minute desperation, while the quasi-macho masculinity of the three dudes flaunting lambs, undefined sex toy-like objects, Remy Martin bottles and MJ crouch grabs seem to downplay any grain of seriousness. There are flashes of light comedy in place to help brighten the mood, particularly the whimsical foot slap scene. And their dance moves aren’t exactly good enough for a walk down the Soul Train line. For a bit of comical relief, “Blurred Lines” will give you what you want, but expect to put Thicke and his charades a step beneath JT.
