The Evolution of Robin Thicke was Thicke's second album. His debut recording A Beautiful World was well reviewed but was an economic failure and the singer-songwriter was forced to switch record labels. Thicke told Billboard magazine: "The second album is about a guy who's been stripped of everything. He doesn't have any money and is about to lose his house. His wife is off becoming a movie star and everyone else is pretty much leaving him. All the cool friends I'd had stopped inviting me to parties. I was all alone at home writing songs on my piano about what I was feeling. Thus came "Complicated," "Can U Believe," "I Need Love," "2 the Sky" and "Angels." All these songs were about brokenhearted loneliness and hopelessness; trying to still believe in myself."