Bruno Mars in Big Business - Research Paper Example

Bruno Mars Bruno Mars was born in the year 1985. He started his career in music very early. He was given the name Hernandez Peter. Mars was raised in Honolulu, on the island of Hawaii in a family that was more musically oriented, which was very important for the growth of his talent. After his high school, he relocated to the city of Los Angeles so as to study music, though he had already started performing in the neighborhood. Like all artists that dream of making it big, he had to struggle and live in the shadow of others. Mars made had his first debut in music in 2009, after vocalizing in “Nothing on You” by B.o.B. and Travey McCoy’s “Billionaire”( Rutherford, 2013). With more than ten albums to his name, Bruno Mars has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards. He was also named the first position by the magazine, Forbes, as the best 30 at 30. His family had some musical affiliation. He had a mum who happened to be a good dancer while the father did play the percussion. This heritage is what was to influence young Bruno. His father literally involved everyone in their family in music. Bruno’s mother was gifted with strong vocals. So as early as four, he already was aware that music was what he had to make. They did their performances to excited crowds in Honolulu. He was acting out as Presley then. It would form a very crucial phase for his future musical career became influenced by Presley. Other songs that were done included those by Jackson. Bruno became famous in 2010 after featuring in the Trevie McCoy’s song ‘Billionaire’ and B.OB’s ‘Nothing on You’. He used to write songs for the established song birds, such as Burke. The others were; Brandy without mentioning Shawn Kingston (Akhan, 2009). He was also a backup singer, vocalizing for established artists like Trevie. This gave him the necessary exposure he needed. He was later to produce his own debut album titled, “It’s better if”. His next single,” Just the Way” became even more successful. It got him get recognition for his excellent pop performance. Mars was becoming a more formidable artist that all were watching. His next hit-Grenade- was to propel him higher. It earned him more airplay and popularity among the music lovers. Mars has been known to embrace several styles like pop, rock as well as reggae. Bruno Mars makes use of several genres in his music. Basically pop and RNB has been his style in producing the tracks, GRENADE and the Lazy Song. However, he is also known to do reggae rock and sometimes soul. His album, “Doo-hoops and Hooligans” is a combination of genres. In the album, there are rock slants and the “Lazy Song” is done in an acoustic version. The singer is popular for his well choreographed dance moves. This has won him accolades especially in the performance of “Runaway Baby”. Though he has the penchant for going for any genre, Mars is arguably a pop icon. He can take on pop and modify the songs to suit the whims of his audience. The song “Gorilla” gives itself a rockfish sensation. His success comes from the ability to blend both the old and the new. It is not unusual for one to get ten year olds at the many of his concerts. in addition, we have the senior citizens that do enjoy his music with the same grain. He modifies his performances depending on the audience and his vocal ability works to his advantage. At one occasion, you will get pop songs, “If I was your man” and the next, the next, “Runaway Baby” which is purely RNB (Rutherford, 2014). The ability to use the different genres makes the performances flexible for he can easily get different guest performers on his show. He is also able to perform to a wide variety of audiences without losing the connection. This has made him more popular to the youthful audience as well as the older ones. Bruno is known for his unique voice, which has made him very flexible among the different genres. Mars cannot be tied to a single style. He gets his influence from different quarters and his style is a hotchpotch of several influences. The icons such as R. Kelly, Keith Sweat and Jodeci had earlier influence on him. These were RNB singers. Meanwhile, he was also much predisposed to the rock ‘n’ roll of the 50’s. While in high school, he formed a habit of listening to the classical rock bands, for instance, The Beatles, the Police and Led Zeppelin. The artists somehow participated in his musical transformation. His style is heavily adopted from them. Bruno Mars idolizes Jack White as well as Jessie J. He was known to enjoy the music of Alicia Keys when developing as a musician. It is this association with all artists of different background that influenced his style. Thus he is able to combine soul, reggae and acoustic in his songs, a feat that perhaps only he can accomplish. It is while he was growing up that he got acquainted with Reggae music. Most of the radio stations around played reggae music thus he got acquainted with Bob Marley’s songs. (Mars, 2013). In reggae music, there is much emphasis to the song itself. The people listen to this music simply because they are drawn to each other. This explains why most of Bruno’s songs are mostly sung. He is known to listen to all the kinds of songs that can be found thus can sing many genres, ranging from reggae, soul, rock and RNB (Peters, 2012). In Honolulu they had a musical band for the family, where they sang. They simply did the Doo-wop. He had an unusual liking for Elvis’ songs which also influenced him. Later on, Bruno built his own career in music through appearing in other people’s music to provide vocals. There has been noted, some considerable growth in his songs. Right from the moment he produced the initial version of “Billionaire”, his current songs have been cleaned. In the original version, he had sung “I wanna be a billionaire, but later on in his performances it is changed to “freaking bad”, perhaps in recognition of the different types of audiences. Bruno has attributed all these mature themes in his songs to the freedom he now enjoys artistically (Peters, 2012). Although Bruno Mars has produced most of his albums singlehandedly without much collaboration, he is still open to co-working with other artists. He has partnered with Alicia Keys and receives offers from myriad artists. His initial songs were sung together with other established singers. Mars is known to love collaborations and live performances with other artists. Critics have said that “Just the Way you are” and other of his romantic ballads are somewhat sentimental. Of course, he does not welcome such censure. His songs have been labeled: feel good, optimistic and care free. He gets onto the darker subjects in the songs like “Grenade”, “liqueur store”. These are lyrics which talk of failed love, betrayals and emotional hurt. Thus he is able take on different topics in his songs. This has made him remain relevant with all his fans, despite his 2010 arrest for possession of narcotics. He got away with community service, a two thousand dollar fine and had to undergo some counseling. Bruno Mars has been called by many as the latest version of Michael Jackson. He has got entertainment quality and does pop just like the late pop icon. His choreography during the concerts adds flair to on his entertainment. Mars Bruno and MJ have the characteristic smoother voice. He has also been compared to Elvis Presley in terms of total album sales. His sales since 2010 have even exceeded those of Presley. He spent his formative years impersonating Presley, which heavily influenced his style. His early years were also characterized by performance of Michael Jackson songs, an experience that can be seen to influence his current music. He is also famous for the ability to use different instruments on the stage during his shows. From the electronic guitar, to the percussion drums and keyboards, his performances are electrifying. He is keenly following the examples of Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. But unlike Michael Jackson, Bruno is known for the interviews he can give. He has even appeared on the cover of Forbes, something MJ never achieved. Although they may both have the same vocals and beautiful performances, the two are different as the moon and stars. It is however important to note that his music has influence from both MJ and Presley. Bruno has had 31 nominations and managed to win up to 31 Grammys. There were almost 2 million copies of his album, Unorthodox being sold in 2012. His tours still remain a success. His track “Locked out of Heaven” topped the charts for weeks and sold in thousands. “Just the Way you are” spent four weeks at the top position, which is a record (Weiner, 2013) This year Mars together with his band known as the Hooligans were premiered to perform at the Super Bowl. The group had the honor of doing their performance before the weekend football in New York City. Mars puts all of himself in the songs that he does write. Most of the time he writes together with Philip Lawrence and he believes that for one to clearly understand his music, one ought to be there for the live performances. This is due to the reason that from an early age, he has known no other part but the stage (Akhan 2014). Using the styles of other artists like Elvis and Michael, together with the influence of R. Kelly, Alicia Keys among others, Bruno Mars has been able to develop a style of his own. He has managed to create a blend of pop, reggae, rock as well as soul. This has enabled him to come up with a mix of the old and the new, thus appealing to a cross section of audiences. This has also made it easy for him to partner with all sorts of performers. It is his skill at song writing, producing and performing that sets him apart from other artists. He is also able to add some humor within his music. Finally, he has the advantage of a mellow voice that enables him to transverse over a wide vocal range. References Akhan B, (2014). Bruno Mars. Retrieved from: tr.brunomars.wikia.com/wiki/Bruno-Mars Allison Stewart. (2010). Bruno Mars is a Star-with all the Trimmings. Chicago Tribune. Peters, (2013), Bruno Mars. Retrieved from: http://news.radio.com/category/headlines/ press.atlanticrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bruno-mars-key-us-press Rick Fulton(2013) Retrieved from http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music- news/bruno-mars-every-artist-should-1464017: Rutherford K,(2013). Bruno Mars is Big Business. The New York Times. Williams, P. (2012). BMG Chrysalis captures Bruno Mars. Music Weekly Read More