We asked Rob Thomas if he’d rather make it real or forget about it. It got deep.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 came through for a simple game of Would You Rather? He ended up giving us a very deep answer to a question that’s plagued us for two decades.

June 26, 2019

Rob Thomas is famous for many things: fronting American rock outfit Matchbox 20, guest starring with an almost wordless performance in an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, being a ‘90s heartthrob. But he is known mostly today for the Grammy Award-winning song “Smooth” by Carlos Santana featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20. The gargantuan smash hit single from Santana’s 1999 LP Supernatural has taken on a life of its own in recent years, becoming one of the internet’s sweetest memes, a gift that keeps on giving.

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So, was it actually a hot one when Thomas came through The FADER’s offices the other week for a round of Would You Rather? We can barely remember. Did he know that he was just a few stops on the express train from Spanish Harlem? We didn’t ask.

The important thing here is that Thomas would, he says, tour blindfolded rather than agree to have a hologram tour in his place — on the condition that he has to navigate a bunch of perilous obstacles on stage. He said that he’d very happily wear the shirt from the now-iconic “Smooth” video forever, rather than hearing the song every time he walks into a damn room. And, crucially, he got deep when we asked him if he’d rather make it real or forget about it.

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Watch the video in full at the top of the page.

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We asked Rob Thomas if he’d rather make it real or forget about it. It got deep.