One Track Sunday: Robin Thicke Debuts Give It To U

People are still all over Robin Thicke’s summer single “Blurred Lines,” but Thicke is back with another single and another video to boot, which dropped about a week ago. The song is “Give It to U” featuring Kendrick Lamar and 2Chainz, a track that touts the largesse of Thicke’s ego (and apparently his dick).

Phallic references and scantily clad women are hallmarks of Thicke’s music videos, and “Give It to U” is no exception. The video was shot at a football field and features gals in marching band uniforms and goofy-looking football gear, although thankfully the only nudity we get this time around is a dude streaking across the field, and to make this one safe for the office, the naked dude has been pixilated so we don’t see much of anything. In other instances, girls dress up in cotton candy, the masket for “the team” is a giant roll of money, and we get to see a lot of fast-shaking booties as 2Chainz is introduced.

2Chainz’s boring “chain reaction” verse is probably the worst writing in the song itself, but you probably won’t notice this, as he is introduced by a giant float that is dedicated to a woman’s best ‘ass’et. Whether or not you are invested in the song or the video, it has attracted a lot of attention thus far, pulling in nearly 4 million YouTube hits. Famed music video director Diane Martel was behind the lens for this Thicke endeavor, as well.

That’s a lot of plays for a video that has gone fairly unnoticed in the media this week. There have been plenty of angry torrents, critical essays, and other backlash related to Thicke’s MTV VMAs performance with Miley Cyrus, which featured the scantily clad 20-year-old shaking up against Thicke in a flesh-colored costume. Some would later call the performance racist while others called it fun, and while most of the chatter was directed at Cyrus, Thicke has sort of been lumped in by default, although it’s worth noting that the same sort of foam finger that had people all hot and bothered over Cyrus’ performance also pops up in the video for “Give It to U.” Then again, even Thicke has admitted he doesn’t think he could ever top the music video for “Blurred Lines.” Maybe he doesn’t mind a little less spotlight this time around.

The song was released as the second single off of Thicke’s sixth studio album Blurred Lines, which has sold well overseas and in the United States. You can order the fun and funky-sounding album over at iTunes.