Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak reemerged on Friday, March 5 with the slick new video “Leave The Door Open” from their upcoming joint album An Evening With Silk Sonic.
The duo stopped by The Breakfast Club too and discussed the new project. During the conversation, Charlamagne Tha God asked the “Uptown Funk” singer how he dealt with people calling him a cultural thief.
Mars has always given credit to those who inspired him like Teddy Riley and Bobby Brown and stated, “You can’t find an interview where I’m not talking about the entertainers that have come before me. And the only reason why I’m here is because of people like James Brown, Prince and Michael Jackson. That’s the only reason why I’m here. I’m growing up as a kid watching Bobby Brown saying, ‘OK, if that’s what it takes to make it, I gotta learn how to do the running man, the moonwalk, that’s it. And this music comes from love and if you can’t hear that, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
Mars also expressed that music is something that’s passed down with each new generation adding their own mix to the recipe. “It’s not a secret, we wear our inspiration on our sleeve,” added Mars.
“What is the point if [we] as musicians can’t learn from the guys that came before us. … And I hope that one day down the road there’s going to be a band taking what we did and flipping and freaking that and putting their own spin on it. Because if they don’t, then what was the point of us doing this.”
The “Nothin’ On You” creator also revealed that the question doesn’t bother him and that he’s addressed it numerous times. “It comes with the gig. And there’s real merit to what people are saying about Black entertainers not getting their flowers. And I’m a champion for that, I’m with that,” commented Mars.
Check out the interview on the next page as Bruno and Anderson talk more about how their musical union came about and reigniting the soul in R&B.
