You can’t turn on a radio station for 15 minutes without hearing the idiosyncratic funk/pop fusion of Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic.” It’s everywhere. Mars’ smooth voice and even smoother lyrics cascade over a beat that makes you dance as soon as he shouts out “Players! Put your. Pinky. Rings up. To the. Skyyyyyy.” This song, a standout amongst many tunes on the radio that are heavily drenched in autotune and trippy sounding beats, is a natural feel-good song from the moment you hear it. It’s the first song on Bruno Mars’ newly released album of the same name, and it sets a precedent for the syncretic funk/R&B/soul/pop blend of sounds in the tape. What’s more is the album seems to take us on a mini journey through black music. It gives us the “throwback” feel we’ve all been so desperately craving in music, namely R&B and pop.
After 24K Magic, the song “Chunky” comes on, reminding you of an 80s R&B song. This is another song that makes you feel good as soon as you hear it. Paired with female background singers, this song gets you grooving to the lyrics, a theme permeating throughout the entire album. Next comes “Perm,” a tune filled to the brim with James Brown-esque funk and hilarious lyrics like “put some perm on your attitude, girl you gotta relax.” Then comes “That’s What I Like,” a smooth and solid song that drips with a heavy 90s influence. The amazing thing about this album is that every song compliments the album perfectly, yet they are also so strong alone.
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The second single off the album, “Versace on the Floor,” is one of the strongest. It’s the song that plays when you’re finally dancing with your crush at the school dance. It’s the song that should be in the background of that school dance scene in your favorite 90s movie: you remember when Monica and Q are dancing with other people but staring at each other in “Love & Basketball”? Or when Alicia and Mike are dancing at their school dance in “The Wood”? “Versace on the Floor” sounds like it should be playing in the background of somebody’s coming-of-age romantic comedy and the song that follows, “Straight Up and Down,” a modern reiteration of New Jack Swing makes a perfect segue into a sensual and soulfully sexy mood.
What Bruno Mars does so beautifully is blend integral elements from the roots of R&B and Soul music with certain modern cadences. He takes this foundation of Black music and builds upon it in a way that is not appropriative or forced. One of my favorites off of the album, “Finesse,” does this with ease. Bruno Mars sounds like Bobby Brown Jr. on this song but it’s natural; it’s not a forced funk, but a smooth and natural procession of rhythm, and soul, with a funky flair.
With much of the modern R&B world drifting into a new style of the genre, Bruno Mars takes us back a little. He reminds us that the soulfulness that his predecessors infused into all their music is still important. Of course, he is not the only musician trying to “bring back” that old school feeling into modern music. But his new album makes a strong statement that he is shaping himself into the artist he wants to be. He is crafting his art with precision and spunk, and he is undoubtedly an artistic force to be reckoned with.
