When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
Just the way you are
— "Just The Way You Are"
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), better known as Bruno Mars, is an American pop/R&B singer/songwriter noted for his throwbacks to various pop music genres. After bursting onto the scene with his song "Nothin' on You" (2010) with the rapper B.o.B (Rapper) and the song "Billionaire" (2010) with Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy, he rose in stature to one of the most popular artists of the 2010s.
He has won 10 awards, and has been nominated for 65. His debut album sold over two million copies and has been certified double-platinum in the USA. His song "Uptown Funk!", a collaboration with British DJ Mark Ronson, is one of the best-selling songs of all time. He also performed at the halftime shows of Super Bowl 48 and 50. He is a member of the production trio called The Smeezingtons, who have produced his own songs as well as for others.
He is Puerto Rican and Jewish on his father's side, and Filipino (specifically Cebuano and Tagalog) on his mother's.
On February 25, 2021, after a 4-year hiatus since his album 24K Magic, he and Anderson .Paak announced that they were forming a superduo
named Silk Sonic; their first song, "Leave the Door Open", released on March 5, 2021. In a surprise, their first album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, which was originally scheduled for January 2022, came out on November 12, 2021 due to fan demand.
Discography:
Solo career:
- Doo-Wops & Hooligans (October 4, 2010)
- Unorthodox Jukebox (December 7, 2012)
- 24K Magic (November 18, 2016)
As Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak:
- An Evening with Silk Sonic (November 12, 2021)
These tropes are amazing/Just the way they are:
- All Take and No Give: "Grenade" starts off by calling out the woman of affection for being guilty of this:Easy come, easy go,
that's just how you live, oh
take, take, take it all,
but you never give... - Boastful Rap:
- "Uptown Funk", a track where he talks about how hot he is and that his band is about that money. And he raps in the quiet part of the bridge before the last chorus. Plus, there's that line: "Don't believe me, just watch!", which is a boast in and of itself.
- "24K Magic" absolutely fits this trope to a T. "That's What I Like", in a similar vein to T.I.'s "Whatever You Like", also boasts about how rich he is, although in a way that he can give anything to the girl in the song.
- Silk Sonic's "Fly As Me" does this as well, boasting about his luxuries and that the subject of the singer's affections should be glad to catch the interest of someone of his caliber. The song does note that the singer expects his beau-to-be to put in some work in the relationship too.
- Be Yourself:
- "Just the Way You Are".
- These lines from "Uptown Funk":If you're sexy then flaunt it,
If you're freaky then own it!
- Bittersweet Ending: "When I Was Your Man". The "bitter" part is the narrator realizing that there's nothing he can do to mend his relationship with his ex. The "sweet" part comes in when he tells her that all he wants now is for her to be happy with her new boyfriend and for him to avoid the mistakes he made.
- The Casanova: The narrator of "Runaway Baby".
- Chivalrous Pervert: Essentially the impression you'll get if you average all his lyrics and leave out "Natalie". May have once been this in real life, but now has stated that he prefers being monogamous.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: In "Gorilla":"If the neighbors call the cops, call the sheriff, call the SWAT, we don't stop, we keep rocking while they knocking on our door…"
- Cool Shades: Seen sporting these a lot.
- Crossover: Started his career by appearing on B.o.B. and Travie McCoy's songs, and later was a guest in Bad Meets Evil's "Lighters". On the other hand there's B.o.B. and Cee Lo Green in "The Other Side", and Damian Marley in "Liquor Store Blues".
- Dance Sensation: In "The Lazy Song" he mentions "learning how to Dougie".
- Decade-Themed Filter: Three of his music videos such as "Locked Out of Heaven", "Treasure", and "When I Was Your Man" were rendered into late 1970s style videos up to the video quality and all.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Most songs by the aforementioned Silk Sonic (and by most, we mean one) are credited to Silk Sonic, Bruno Mars, and Anderson ..paak.
- Downer Ending: "Grenade". The narrator finds himself permanently trapped in an abusive relationship because as much as he hates her for it, he still can't bring himself to break up with his girlfriend and the music video implies that he tries to escape by killing himself.
- Dress Hits Floor: Zendaya does this in the "Versace on the Floor" video.
- Driven to Suicide: In the ending of the "Grenade" video. Mars discovers his girlfriend making out with another man while pretending Mars didn't arrive at their door, causing him to drag his piano onto a set of train tracks. In complete sorrow, Mars plays the piano he placed on the train tracks until an oncoming train destroys them both.
- Expecting Someone Taller: He's only 5'5", which belies his loud, powerful singing voice.
- Genre Throwback: One of his specialties. "Treasure" is a throwback to disco, "Locked Out of Heaven" is explicitly an Homage to The Police, "Gorilla" is an emulation of Prince, and his guest spot on Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" is a throwback to, well, '70s-style funk. Everything in 24K Magic ranges from James Brown influenced funk to New Jack Swing and late 90s/early 2000s Hip Hop and R&B. Silk Sonic is a throwback to various styles of 60s and 70s R&B, funk, and soul, particularly Philly soul.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: 24K Magic lacks a Parental Advisory warning, despite the Title Track containing a few utterances of "Shit", which should mandate inclusion
- Gold Digger: The titular character of "Natalie".
- Hashtag Rap: "24K Magic", oddly, has a Lampshaded example:We too freshGot to blame it on JesusHashtag blessed
- Hotter and Sexier: The songs on Unorthodox Jukebox are much more explicitly sexual in nature than the preceding album. It also got a Parental Advisory label whereas Doo-Wops didn't.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: "Natalie" is about the titular gold digger taking Bruno's money...and then he goes after her with the intent to kill.
- Intercourse with You:
- "Our First Time", "Locked Out Of Heaven," and "Versace on the Floor."
- "Gorilla" is the most explicit song on Unorthodox Jukebox, getting filthy with the animalistic similes. The remix (with verses from Pharrell and R. Kelly) is even more extreme.
- In the Style of: The general consensus is that "Locked Out of Heaven" is extremely influenced by the sound of The Police, particularly "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne". Bruno himself admitted that when he was initially writing the song, the key it was in made him sing in a sufficiently high register to resemble Sting, and
he then decided to play up the similarity and record it as an homage to The Police. - I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: The end of "When I Was Your Man".I hope he buys you flowersI hope he holds your handGives you all his hours when he has the chanceTakes you to every party because I remember how much you loved to danceDo all the things I should've doneWhen I was your man
- Just the Way You Are: "Just the Way You Are", obviously. To our younger tropers, Mars's song is not the Trope Namer; that would be Billy Joel's song of the same name.
- Large Ham: If these lines in "24K Magic" are any indication...Got to blame it on Jesus!/Hashtag #blessed (They ain't ready for me, UH!)
- Lazy Bum: The Lazy Song
- Love Makes You Crazy/Dumb: Several of his songs.
- Lyrical Dissonance: A lot of his songs sound upbeat and have lots of energy, but the lyrics themselves can be pretty depressing.
- Madonna-Whore Complex: Attempts to talk a woman out of this mindset in "Show Me".
- Melancholy Moon: "Talking to the Moon", about trying to reach a distant (or possibly deceased) lover.
- Murder Ballad: "Natalie". She ran away with all his money, and she did it for fun. Now he's diggin' a ditch for that gold diggin' bitch.
- Ode to Apathy: His aptly-titled "Lazy Song" is about him lazing around all day and doing nothing, not even giving a care to the world for one moment. The music video makes it extravagant with the addition of people in monkey masks dancing to the laid back tune and Leonard Nimoy playing a version of himself that is a gigantic jerk and is lazing around in his pijama.Today I don't feel like doing anythingI just wanna lay in my bedDon't feel like picking up my phoneSo leave a message at the tone'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
- Older Than They Look: Born in 1985, looks nearly a decade younger.
- One-Woman Song: "Natalie", although it's not a love song, but rather a murder song.
- Pretty Boy: Oh boy, is he ever. The voice helps.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Grenade", though he still loves her.
- Retraux:
- His performance at the 2011 Grammys included a performance of "Grenade" in the style of an old soul song.
- "Treasure" from Unorthodox Jukebox appears to be a throwback to '70s disco, as does the video with all its Soul Train/Solid Gold-style lighting artifacts, greenscreen effects and thinner-than-widescreen resolution.
- The video for "Locked Out of Heaven", aside from the stylistic nod to The Police, imitates old-school video tape recordings.
- 24K Magic is sprinkled all over with 90s R&B. The video for "Finesse" is complete with music video cinematography from that era and the 4:3 aspect ratio.
- Somewhere, a Mammalogist Is Crying: In "Gorilla", Bruno compares his sexual performance to that of the titular animal. Apparently, he didn't realize that gorillas have one of the smallest body-to-penis size ratios in the animal kingdom, measuring a bit more than one inch on average. Not exactly the kind of creature you want to compare yourself to in bed.
- Stage Names: It comes from both his childhood similarity to wrestler Bruno Sammartino, and that "I felt like I didn't have [any] pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I’m out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars".
- The Power of Friendship: "Count on Me".
- Shout-Out:
- The numerous Retraux effects in the "Treasure" music video show very obvious nods to the music video for "Let's Groove" by Earth, Wind & Fire.
- "Uptown Funk"'s refrain of "Uptown Funk you up" is a reference to "Funk You Right On Up" by The Sequence, one of the first commercial rap songs (it was even the b-side to "Rapper's Delight").
- The video for "Finesse" is a direct homage to the '90s series In Living Color!.
- His Stage Name is a tribute to WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino.
- Stupid Sacrifice: In "Grenade", the narrator would die for someone who doesn't love him back.
- Vocal Dissonance At times his voice is feminine.
- When She Smiles: In "Just the Way You Are":"And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while."
- For too lon-on-ong
For too lon-on-ong ong on-on-ong
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ooh!
