Smokey Robinson
The Steward
Legacy, values and the long now, leadership as care and continuity.
Smokey Robinson is The Steward, a leader who understands songwriting as multigenerational obligation. He wants a song that would have meant something fifty years ago and will mean something fifty years from now, and he mourns the loss of Motown's family infrastructure with genuine grief. His vice-presidential years, signing checks, mentoring new talent, critiquing peers in Monday morning sessions, show guardianship of craft, legacy, and community as a single continuous duty.
“I'm living my impossible dream, and it's a blessing, man. And I don't take it for granted. And I don't triple on Smokey Robinson — that just comes along with this territory.”
“If I write a song, somebody could pick it up twenty years from now and it'd be a hit. If it's a song, it's got that chance. So I want to write a song.”
“The greatest teacher that we have is time. And if you're looking and if you're listening, you learn all the time. There's no way I could have ever caught my dad.”
R&B Money: “Smokey Robinson”
LISTEN AT THE SOURCE ↗THE RECORD IS CHECKABLE