Robin Thicke Defends "Blurred Lines" Against Critics: "We Were Just Jamming"

Not only did the track land Thicke in legal trouble, but people accused him of promoting misogynistic culture.

He’s readying the release of his forthcoming album On Earth, And in Heaven this Friday (February 12), and in anticipation, Robin Thicke has sat down with Zane Lowe. The award-winning singer is celebrating decades in the industry where he’s toured the world, topped the charts, and collaborated with the best of the best, but a song that has been at the center of the controversy is his smash hit, “Blurred Lines.” The tune was a collaboration with Pharrell Williams and T.I., but it would land Thicke in court against Marvin Gaye’s estate.

Jamie McCarthy / Staff / Getty Images

A court would later award the late-great Marvin Gaye a songwriting credit after finding that “Blurred Lines” was influenced by the singer’s classic “Got to Give it Up.” That wasn’t the only scandal to haunt the single; “Blurred Lines” lyrics were dissected as critics claimed that the song perpetuated date rape culture. Pharrell has come forward to acknowledge that the song catered to “chauvinist culture,” but in Thicke’s conversation with Lowe, the singer defended his piece of art.

CONFIG[‘slots’] = CONFIG[‘slots’] || {};
var code = ‘HNHH_desktop_BelowMainPic’;
if (!CONFIG[‘slots’][code]) {
CONFIG[‘slots’][code] = null;
}
googletag.cmd.push(function () {
var code = ‘HNHH_desktop_BelowMainPic’;
CONFIG[‘slots’][code] =
googletag
.defineSlot(‘/3858450/HNHH_desktop_BelowMainPic’, [[300,250]], code)
.addService(googletag.pubads());

if (CONFIG[‘fillSlotsImmediately’]) {
setTimeout(function () {
googletag.pubads().refresh([CONFIG[‘slots’][‘HNHH_desktop_BelowMainPic’]]);
}, 1000);
}
googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({
// Fetch slots within 5 viewports.
fetchMarginPercent: 0,
// Render slots within 2 viewports.
renderMarginPercent: 25
});
});

CONFIG[‘slots’] = CONFIG[‘slots’] || {};
var code = ‘kargo_embed_unit’;
if (!CONFIG[‘slots’][code]) {
CONFIG[‘slots’][code] = null;
}
googletag.cmd.push(function () {
var code = ‘kargo_embed_unit’;
CONFIG[‘slots’][code] =
googletag
.defineOutOfPageSlot(‘/3858450/kargo_embed_unit’, code)
.addService(googletag.pubads());

if (CONFIG[‘fillSlotsImmediately’]) {
setTimeout(function () {
googletag.pubads().refresh([CONFIG[‘slots’][‘kargo_embed_unit’]]);
}, 1000);
}
googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({
// Fetch slots within 5 viewports.
fetchMarginPercent: 0,
// Render slots within 2 viewports.
renderMarginPercent: 25
});
});

“Well, really, I never saw it that way when I sang it or performed it. Usually, the first piece, when it goes, ‘Bum, bum, bum, everybody get up,’ the crowd goes crazy,” he said. “Even people who aren’t big fans of mine, that’s the only [song] they know… You just kind of take it with a grain of salt.”

Scott Olson / Staff / Getty Images

“The reason I started all of this is because I love music, I love to make music, and then, once I started to perform, I love to perform, so I just go for that part of it,” Thicke said, adding that there wasn’t any intention for the song other than to make people move. “We’re just jamming, everybody is meant to get up and dance. That’s all the song is meant to do.” Listen to Robin Thicke‘s interview below.