Once upon a time in the early '00s there was a long-haired dude with big ideas about music who went by the name of Thicke and released one of the most interesting progressive R&B albums of that time, Cherry Blue Skies. Very few people knew about him and then he seemed to vanish. A few years later he underwent an image overhaul a la Justin Timberlake and reemerged with his full name, a dapper style, a super polished falsetto and released what would become a full blown hit, "Lost Without You." In exchange for some mainstream success, though, he stuck to a more forumulaic, R&B crooner style.

But in a recent interview with Billboard he said he's been "stretching the ceiling" and working on a new sound. Wait. Does that mean that there's gonna be more Thicke in Robin Thicke?

Perhaps he was really playing the game, releasing some mainstream-ready albums to gain some sales clout and then turn up the innovation a bit like we know he can. He's working with production team Surf Krew and Jeffery Baskher, who's worked with Kanye, on new material to be released this year. He says he has an open mind right now and is getting good results, which is promising. It would be nice to see a little bit more of that rogue cat who orignally penned "Shooters" and less of the redux fellow in the button-down who pretty much handed it over to Lil Wayne this time around.

Robin Thicke Readies New Album for 2009 [BB]