ILOSM family, here’s a newsflash: There is such a thing as in beef amongst ‘blue-eyed soul’ singers. That is what’s just been confirmed by 90s singer, Jon B., in a brutally honest confession he’s made in recent years. Turns out, his fellow Caucasian R&B competitor, Robin Thicke, tapped a nerve for Jon B, when he later came onto the scene and ‘stole’ his shine, so to speak. To this day, Jon B. is still dealing with the affects that had on his career and seemingly has yet to move past it.
Jon B On What He Felt When Mentor Babyface Signed Robin Thicke…
As most of us Old Schoolers know, legendary producer/singer, Babyface, signed Jon B. back in the day and they pumped out several hits, such as “Someone To Love.” Well, in a new interview with Vlad TV, Jon B admitted that when Babyface and music legend, Andre Harrell, inked a deal with Robin Thicke years later, he became hella salty over it:
“To not have that same energy with my career and watch it happen for someone else was definitely a challenge for me,” said Jon B. “It was humbling to watch another guy come into the scene and everyone’s asking, ‘What do you think about Robin Thicke?’ in every interview I ever did.”
Jon B. Felt “Threatened” By Robin Thicke…
Soon, the public started comparing Jon B to Robin Thicke and that was a nightmare for Jon B:
“From the very beginning I felt threatened because that was sort of my neck of the woods, the Babyface thing, and I felt kind of like, okay this guy kind of came in and stole some of my wind,” Jon B said. “It really was apparent for me early on and I let it kind of get to me a little bit, and I think I kind of fed into it a bit. That was a challenge and I definitely had to adjust to the whole scene of it not being a new thing to be a white guy in R&B, that there were other guys that were in this thing, too, that were doing this thing. You were going to have to deal with being compared to them and vice versa.”
It wasn’t until recently that Jon actually met Robin, when they did a show together in Baton Rouge, LA. That’s when Jon took a moment to get a few things off his chest to the “Blurred Lines” singer:
“‘I’ve had to talk about you for many many years,’” Jon B told Robin. “He said, ‘That’s got to suck,’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, it kind of does.’ Nevertheless, I did it and I’ve tried to be as respectful as possible because I think people want to pose [us] almost like fighters against each other.”
The good thing is that Robin seemed understanding of where Jon was coming from and now, the two may end up working together in the future, if Jon B. has it his way:
“I would love to do a song together and leave it at that and that would be a dope collaboration.”
Friendly Reminder To Jon B. AND Robin Thicke:
We have nothing but love for Jon B. and Robin Thicke…but hopefully they’ll remember to ‘put some respeck’ on the names of the other Caucasian soulful singers who did it before them. They can start with singers like Michael McDonald, Bobby Caldwell, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Michael Bolton, and The Average White Band, to name a few…just sayin.’
Nevertheless, much respect to Jon B. for being brutally honest about something that had to sting like hell at that time.
