One of the more humorous websites that I visit on occasion is prince.org. Not because of His Royal Purpleness, but because of the forum members and their diverse taste. I came across this post which documented some white boy beef:
“I’ve never been on the cover of VIBE, but I don’t think that that is a good thing to really point out. It’s like damn, who are you to say that you deserve the cover? That’s kind of pompous to me. Just fall back and do what you do and don’t complain. You’ve been blessed.”
– Jon B on Robin Thicke’s complaint for not making the VIBE cover.“Listen man, you have your career and I have mine. If it came down to a battle situation, where we were piano to piano, vocals to vocals, and he really wanted to test skills on some wild competitive type of stuff we could make it happen.” – Jon B on a battle with Thicke.
“I paved the way for a lot of white artists now that don’t have to deal with the stigma of being a white artist. I don’t think that people would be as open for non-African American artists like that if it I didn’t take a lot of the slack for them.” – Jon B on originally holding it down for white Soul artists.
Now THAT is some funny stuff. For those of you not familiar with Jon B, he’s a pretty talented R&B singer from the late 90s/early 00s who got his start under Babyface’s guidance. They actually did a record together called “Someone To Love”, and you couldn’t even tell their voices apart at times on that record. Jon went on to have 6 R&B and 3 Pop Top 40 hits, and even scored 2 Top 40 hits in the U.K. with “They Don’t Know” and “Don’t Talk”. He’s been out of the spotlight for a few years, but has a new album coming out on Tuesday called “Helpless Romantic”. First single “Ooh So Sexy” with Paul Wall recently debuted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks.
I won’t lie…I’ve always thought that Jon’s image was a bit contrived. He plays the urban card a little too hard sometimes, and I’ve often wondered if it hurt the way he was perceived, or how seriously he was taken. Then again, that was 10 years ago. Robin Thicke has been able to do his thing, and there is NO question that he’s a white boy. Coming from another soulful white boy, I can say that.
Although he’s probably going for some publicity here, Jon brings up a good point. Robin’s really only had one “hit” album under his belt, with “The Evolution of Robin Thicke”. The new record, “Something Else”, has done alright, but it remains to be seen whether it will have the longevity of “Evolution”. So based on one arguably amazing CD, does he really deserve the cover of an industry standard like VIBE? Hard to say, but once you get pegged with the “arrogant” tag, it’s tough to get rid of it.
I debated whether this was worth a whole entry, and then I came across a clip of a new song from another white boy that many of you might might be interested in, so that gave me some extra incentive. The leak from Mr Timberlake is called “Magic”, and I think it’s safe to say that this won’t be an actual single, with Mr Thicke having had a #1 R&B hit with a song of the same title just a couple of months ago. I suppose it gives you a taste of what he’s working on, though. That, and it’s also another good reason to post a picture of Shayne Ward, who is in the process of selling his soul to the devil to take over Justin’s musical career.
Stumble It!
Pop Music Notes 
It is amazing to me how people don’t know what they are talking about before they stick their foot in their mouths.
Robin has cleared up that comment, in which he stated it was his buddies not Vibe who said that. He also jokes that it is “accomplishment discrimination” that kept him from the cover not his race. He knows he haven’t earned the industry credentials to earn the cover yet.
But instead of those doing research and listening to what the man has to say they stay on the non truths.
And I love the fact he doesn’t give two ish about what people think about him. A lot of folks would send out a press statement, Robin just lives his life and answers the question when asked.
I appreciate a grown man compared to a pompous child such as Jon B.
Newsflash Jon, Michael McDonald, Phil Collins, George Michael, the Bee Gees, Average White Band, Simply Read, etc. all came before you.
From what I’m seeing, Jon B is the arrogant SOB not Robin. He actually letting his work do the talking. And record sales means nothing. Rihanna is a top seller but would anyone say she can sing as well as Ledesi or Goapele who struggle to move records.
And Jon B has only had a few hits himself so his behind still can’t talk.
I’m not a Robin Thicke fan, I just love good music. I happen to think Robin is a great artist. I don’t consider Jon B nor Justin to be artists. Of course they have had great songs but they don’t fit my definition of an artist. An artist to me are able to make me think, feel, imagine, inspire to become better. Robin’s music is able to do that for me. Very few singers can do that and Robin happens to be my guy of the moment.
I really don’t care about Jon so there is nothing really to say about him. I can only tolerate one person full of himself and even that takes a lot of work. He’ s nowhere near Kanye’s level so he’s not worth the effort.
who even knew jon b was white? LOL
Anonymous, agreed on Jon B’s comments. Not exactly mature, but Homes has to sell records, and there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Let’s be fair, though…his behind CAN talk. Two gold and one platinum. He does have some credibility.
Laura, I love your comparison of Jon to Kanye. Nice call! You do have to give props to Justin, though, because the success of “Justified” probably gave Robin a second chance after “A Beautiful World” bombed.
Dan, I wonder the same thing about you sometimes.