BRUNO MARS (with Stereogum's Tom Breihan)

Published: Oct. 26, 2023, 7:01 a.m.

Stereogum\u2019s Tom Breihan returns to Pop Pantheon to dissect the career of pop history\u2019s greatest mimic, Bruno Mars. Louie and Tom dive into how Bruno spent his childhood impersonating greats like Elvis and Michael Jackson, his failed start on Motown and early work for other artists, including via his production group The Smeezingtons. Then they discuss his tightly-stitched 2010 debut, Doo-Wops and Hooligans, 2012\u2019s pop history grab-bag, Unorthodox Jukebox, and the cultural sensation of his 2014 Mark Ronson-collab, the Morris Day-tributing \u201cUptown Funk.\u201d Next, they explore Bruno\u2019s\xa0 tour through Black pop and soul history on 2016\u2019s 24K Magic and his Philly Soul and Parliament-Funkadelic-homaging super-duo with Anderson .Paak., Silk Sonic, as they parse whether Bruno is central to his music at all or simply a nostalgia curator. Finally, they rank Bruno Mars in the official Pop Pantheon.

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