Personnel: Robin Thicke (vocals, piano); Bobby B. Keyes (guitar); Pro J (piano, drums); Harry King, Larry Cox (piano); Sean Hurley (bass); Herman Matthews (drums); Raphael Padilla (percussion).

Personnel: Thicke (piano); Bobby Keyes, Dino Meneghin (guitar); Randy Waldman (horns); Larry Cox, Harry King (piano); Herman Matthews (drums); Rafael Padilla (percussion).

Audio Mixers: Jean-Marie Horvat; Bill Malina.

Recording information: Blue Jay; Record Plant Studios; Westlake.

Editor: Bill Malina.

Who would have ever guessed that the son of the writers of theme songs for TV's FACTS OF LIFE and DIFFERENT STROKES would grow up to become one of the most exciting R&B artists of the early 21st century? Well that's exactly the case with Robin Thicke (son of TV personalities/composers Alan Thicke and Gloria Loring). Thicke's debut album A BEAUTIFUL WORLD puts Justin Timberlake to shame in the caucasian-Michael Jackson sweepstakes, even as it leaves behind cliched pop trappings for a quirky, innovative sound that owes more to Maxwell or D'Angelo (not to mention Stevie Wonder) than to any cookie-cutter R. Kelly wannabe.

Thicke's velvety voice moves sinuously through the songs without ever overstating its case, and the production (by Thicke and his drummer Pro J) is subtle, complex, and endlessly surprising. Somehow he manages the difficult feat of taking all the elements of contemporary mainstream R&B, reshuffling them and coming out with something entirely his own. A BEAUTIFUL WORLD is a serious contender for best R&B album of 2003.