ROBIN THICKE

The award-winning multiplatinum superstar returns to center stage with Something Else, a joyful and modern tribute to the '70s soul and pop records that have inspired an extraordinary career.

Something Else is aptly titled. "It's time for hope and change," Thicke says. "It's in the air. And I'm speaking on the times around me." Thicke echoes the change with mesmerizing Superfly-era vocals, Gamble and Huff-inspired horn arrangements ("Hard on My Love"), unabashed lyrical optimism and an irresistible invitation to the dance floor ("Side Step"). "I don't want to be a preacher, but I do think at the core of every great existence is an abundance of love and joy, and the only way to create that is to give it," he adds.

Born in Los Angeles, Thicke grew up with an ear trained squarely at R&B and hip-hop. "I was listening to Kurtis Blow at 8, NWA at 12, Jodeci and Mary J. at 14 and Boyz II Men and Babyface soon after," Thicke says. "I didn't even listen to rock and roll music until I was 17. And I find myself thinking that's more normal than it is." André Harrell (then president of Bad Boy Entertainment and mentor to Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy and Thicke) heard the lanky white kid and was dumbstruck. "I heard what Martin Luther King, Jr. described in his dream of a new America: a place where a white man in the San Fernando Valley can feel Detroit, Harlem and the blues," he says.

The spirit of Michael Jackson looms large throughout the new release. "Michael is the epitome of celebration, and the core of this album has that: It's celebratory, healing, loving music," Thicke says.

JAZMINE SULLIVAN

What's in a name? Well, if the name happens to include a reference to a musical genre, it could mean a whole lot. Jazmine Sullivan's mother remembers having a sense that the child she was carrying twenty-one years ago was born to sing and as a lover of jazz, she named her daughter accordingly. While there are elements of jazz in her phrasing - sultry shades of great vocalists like Phyllis Hyman and Sarah Vaughan; replete with a delivery that has often been compared to the likes of Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige, the Philadelphia-born Jazmine is very much an artist for today as her exciting first J Records' album, Fearless, illustrates.

Championed by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott, Faith Evans, and (fellow Philadelphians) Kindred among others, the statuesque and beautiful Jazmine is all at once smart, sassy, insightful, down to earth and very real. As the primary songwriter on Fearless, Jazmine brings her own experiences and observations on life and love with vivid storytelling imagery to her songs.

The resulting track became a newfound hit at radio and quickly established Jazmine as a fresh voice for the summer music scene and beyond.

Producers include Salaam Remi, Dirty Harry, Jack Splash, Stargate and Missy Elliott who—with Lamb—produced the first infectious single, "Need U Bad." Says Jazmine, "I wasn't familiar with reggae but Missy said 'Let's try this out!' So I wrote to the track as soon as I heard it and then Missy brought in Pepa from Salt-N-Pepa to do the chant."