Robin Thicke is back. He's giving us his breakups, grief, love and intimacy over some of the purest R&B/soul since 2002. With a more than 30-year career recording music, he’s returned to serving his fans the same level of bedroom anthems he cooked up with the best of them.

“I remember I sent [my upcoming single] to JAY-Z. I rarely ever send JAY a record, but I had a feeling about this one, so I sent it to him. I asked him, ‘Is this what I think this is?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what you think it is (laughs).’ And he sent me a video concept, too. Shout out to JAY,” Thicke tells REVOLT.

In this installment of “Studio Sessions,” the 47-year-old NAACP Image Award winner explains how Hov helped get Nicki Minaj on “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy.” He also discusses creating music magic with a leukemia patient for his first album in three years and how he started making albums for his fans instead of himself. Check out the exclusive chat below.

With over 30 years of recording experience under your belt, what is the earliest session you remember?

I remember recording a couple of songs with my dad 'cause he had the recording equipment, and I just had the keyboard. But my first real session with a producer was when I was in a singing group called As One. It was me and three Black guys, and we were called As One (laughs). We went into the studio and recorded a three-song demo. I needed $1,000 to record the demo. One of the members of the group’s godfather was Al Jarreau (laughs). Can you believe it? So, Al Jarreau paid the $1000 for my first demo recording.

Producer Tricky Stewart came to LA. We linked up in the studio and started recording songs together when I was about 14. Then, Brian McKnight happened to be in the studio next door when I was recording with Tricky, and Brian heard about this white boy who could sing (laughs). So, then I worked with Brian, and I became Brian McWhite for a while (laughs). Once I started working with Brian, I got a record deal [with] Interscope Records when I was 16 years old, and I had a publishing deal. I believe the first song I ever wrote and produced that was published was the song “Love Is on My Side” on Brandy's first album. I was 16 and she was 14.

Of all your hits, which was the one you recorded the quickest?

It was “Wanna Love You Girl.” I remember I was in the studio with Pharrell, he started making the beat, and I went to get a Subway sandwich (laughs). I came back, and Pharrell had the chorus and the vibe of the verses. I knocked out the vocals in 30 minutes. I went in the other room to smoke a J or something, and Pharrell put his rap down. In about an hour and a half to two hours, we cut that whole record from start to finish. That's also the genius of Pharrell. There ain't nobody like Pharrell.

Speaking of Pharrell, you were signed to his Star Trak label for roughly a decade. What was the creative chemistry like between you two in those days?

We're both just music heads through and through. So, we're really just trying to light the fuse and get that spark. Once we have that title or that idea, it's just bouncing ideas back and forth, and it happens very quickly. Luckily, because I can sing, he just throws me in there, and we just start singing and getting to it. The vocals happen quickly once we have the lyrics and the melody. After that, the vocals happen fast. I think Pharrell comes from the studio mindset of cutting a record every day 'cause his schedule is always so valuable. He’s got Miley Cyrus for two days, then he’s got me for two days. He's gotta cut two records a day. Working with Pharrell is different than working with everybody else. He likes to get that record done that day (laughs).

Another great artist you’ve worked with is JAY-Z. How did “Meiplé” from your Sex Therapy album come about?

It started from a Brigitte Bardot sample. I had the whole album pretty much done. I was in New York City with Andre Harrell, and we invited JAY to come by the studio and see if he liked any of the records enough to maybe hop on one ‘cause I had a lot of features on that album. I remember he came to the studio, and I played him the whole album. When he heard “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy,” he goes, “You know, there's this new artist named Nicki Minaj you should get on this record.” When he heard the whole album, Andre was like, “I know which song he wants to hop on. He wants to get on ‘Meiplé,’ that French one (laughs).” JAY agreed, and he just sat there for a few minutes listening to the record. Then he said, “Okay, I'm ready.” He hopped up, went in the booth, and was done in about three or four takes. We popped some champagne. We danced around. JAY-Z is a genius, and I'm with Roc Nation now.

You haven't released a new project since 2021’s On Earth, and in Heaven. How long have you been working on your upcoming album?

I believe the first song was made in the Fall of 2021. When I make an album, I don't go into it with a plan or a concept. I just try to write great songs and songs that talk about where I'm at in my life, what I'm going through that day, how I'm feeling at that moment. I try to make it as personal as possible, and then as I start writing the songs and collecting a group of records, I start to see what the linear message is or what it all means to me right now at this point in my life.

The most important thing to me are my kids and family. Coming from a broken home as a 7-year-old kid when my parents got divorced, I realized through therapy and a bunch of other stuff that I've been trying to fill that void of a broken home since I was 7 years old. That's why I have a big family now. I have four kids and an amazing fiancée, April. Love isn't easy and having that many kids isn't easy. But all of my efforts these days in my life are about trying to take good care of my woman, keep my family together, and not repeat the cycle of a broken home that I came from.

The first single drops Aug. 23. It’s my first single in three years. It’s called “I Know What To Do” because (he sings), “I know what to do with all that.” It’s about meeting a woman who’s all that, and you know what to do with all that (laughs). I recorded that a year ago. I remember I sent it to JAY-Z. I rarely ever send JAY a record, but I had a feeling about this one, so I sent it to him. I asked him, “Is this what I think this is?” He was like, “Yeah, that’s exactly what you think it is (laughs).” And he sent me a video concept, too. Shout out to JAY.

For this album, what is the last real-life experience you turned into a lyric or a song?

I have one song where there was a young leukemia patient, a 12-year-old girl who’s a singer-songwriter named Avila. This wonderful guy, Isaiah Garza, does Make-A-Wish for people on social media and helps people who have health issues connect with artists or other people they would really love to meet. She came by my house, and we sat at the keyboard and wrote a song together. I asked her what she was going through and what mattered to her the most right now, and she said she has to have hope.

So, I wrote a song with her called “I've Got Hope.” The funny thing is that even though the lyrics are about what she's going through, they're also about what I'm going through. I've got hope that I won't be alone when the times get hard. I've got hope the world will know that I've got something special inside me. The fact that the 12-year-old girl and the 40-year-old guy can write a song together, and share in the same emotion of having hope that everything's gonna be okay, was a really personal, beautiful moment.

How many songs have you recorded for this album so far?

I would say I've done about 30 songs, and I like about 10 or 12 of them (laughs).

What’s the most impressive thing you’ve ever seen a musical artist do in the studio?

I have to speak about Weezy F. Baby. After he did Tha Carter and was recording on Tha Carter II, I had released my first album when I had long hair down to my shoulders on the bike. The first song on that album was called “Shooter.” So, I got a call that Lil Wayne loves the song, and he wanted to record on it. So, I sent him the tracks. I had just heard “Go DJ” and was telling Andre Harrell and my crew, “This guy right here is the next one. He's the next champion in the game.”

I knew how talented he was. He ends up cutting his version of “Shooter” for Tha Carter II. He comes to LA, and I'm like, “Yo, let's get a session up in my house.” He comes up to my house and we started recording the song “All Night Long” that was on The Evolution of Robin Thicke. I remember how fun it was that he was there and would do a verse, and then I’d do my verse, and then he did his. It was almost like we were battle rapping. We were verse battling (laughs). He doesn't write any of his lyrics down. Just to be in the room with him and see his genius unfold was amazing.

After your father, Alan Thicke, passed in December 2016, what was your first studio session like?

Well, the first song I wrote was called “That’s What Love Can Do,” which ended up being the hit off of my On Earth, and in Heaven album. That was a really difficult time. He was my hero, my idol, my best friend, my everything. It’s been tough since then. I'm getting a little emotional right now. Since we lost him, I've had three more kids, and I’m trying to fill the void. He was the man, but I carry him with me everywhere I go in the way I treat people and the way I take care of my kids.

Your new album is slated to come out on Valentine’s Day 2025. So, what do you have coming for the rest of 2024?

The last two albums I did were personal art pieces for me. There were things that I had to get out. The last album, On Earth, and in Heaven, was a tribute to my father and Andre Harrell. On this album, I'm trying to make music more for the audience. I want to please the audience this time. I want to make records that make people say, “We listen to you in the bedroom, and we listen to you on vacation.” I'm trying to really make sure that I make something for them this time as opposed to just for me.