Bruno Mars has been shaping the industry with his massive hits like, “That’s What I Like”, “Versace On The Floor”, “24k Magic” and his older songs, “When I Was Your Man” and “Just The Way You Are.” His 2016 album “24K Magic” really showed his growth as an artist, and you could definitely hear the Michael Jackson influences. He sets the standards for musical growth from going from a sad boy who sang about heartbreak, to becoming a multifaceted artist who takes risks. It’s hard for other artists not to be inspired by his songs and career. “24k Magic” followed the theme of a nineties throwback and Bruno continues to do so on his latest Remix, “Finesse” featuring the biggest thing to happen in rap in 2017, Cardi B.
He really doesn’t feature rappers on his songs, besides B.o.B, CeeLo Green on his track “The Other Side” so seeing him bring Cardi B on this track is a surprise, but a great one that certainly works. I feel like this is just the start of a whole new vision that Bruno has for himself. Typically in a feature, the rap verse in near the bridge of the song, but they take a different spin on it. Cardi B’s verse is at the beginning of the song which sets up the tone and energy of a fast-paced jam. She comes back on the track near the end to sing, “yea we got it going on, got it going on” with Bruno. It is a different set up that actually works really well. It certainly paid off because it was the first song to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart in 2018. The track also starts atop On-Demand Streaming Songs (with 18.7 million on-demand streams) — the first to do so since, again, “Rockstar.” The risk that Bruno took paid off. We might see other artists trying to change up the structure of songs to give it more of an original feel but just know: Bruno did it first.
