chart dominance does not equal cultural impact

a look at Bruno Mars as he launches a new mega-era

At Track Ten, soooooo much of what I decide to cover is based on what we can quantify, especially when it comes to popularity and the charts. So, when a megastar like Bruno Mars announces his first solo album in 10 years, (and already gets two weeks at #1 for lead single “I Just Might” before the album even drops) of course my interest is piqued.

However, I also try to take a broader view as I look at music, taking inspiration where it comes, and I’m always eager to run with it when I’m given a reason to look back at some of the all time greats of pop. In this case, one of my favorite podcasts, Pop Pantheon, recently did an episode ranking Madonna’s best singles, which prompted me to finally go back and listen to one of their all time best series on Madonna.

Taking this little detour into the past also inspired me to spend a lot of time listening to Madonna’s music (some careful readers may have caught that her song “Into the Groove” was my personal most played song in my chart roundup two weeks ago). Beyond coming to deeply love some tracks I was not too familiar with before (hello “Get Together” and “What It Feels Like For A Girl”), the process also just made abundantly clear how Madonna’s career sets the standard for reinvention in pop music. She was giving us “eras” before Taylor was even born. While I’m not ready to do a full deep dive into Madonna’s chart history yet (but trust me, it’s coming one day!), her music and impact has given me an interesting context for receiving the new Bruno Mars album.

artistic innovation isn’t easy

Bruno Mars is tied for the 10th most Hot 100 #1s of all time with Janet Jackson and Stevie Wonder. It is abundantly clear that he has had a remarkable career - and I want to be clear that I don’t dispute that in any way. It is a ridiculously big accomplishment to have 10 #1s, and again, only 12 people all time have done that! But what does he have to show for it? I mean, 16 Grammy awards is nothing to sneeze at, but let’s talk about legacy.

Bruno Mars has a clear formula that he has been following since his first #1 song as a lead artist, “Just The Way You Are,” reached the summit in 2010. If it wasn’t clear from the sound of that track, looking at his first album title, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, should give you a big clue to his artistic project. Bruno has always stylized his music after popular genres and sounds of the past: doo-wop, soul, funk, R&B, and now integrating some Latin inspiration on the new album. And he’s done it successfully! This music has been popular and recognized by the Grammys over and over and over. But essentially, it’s always been about the nostalgia. Fans who enjoy his music are just as likely to enjoy the artists who did it first - in general, he is not reinventing, remixing, or reconstructing these sounds. This is not anything to say about the quality of the music, but just that he is not producing something truly new or innovative.

Compare this to someone like Madonna - her early hits now sound like the definition of 80’s pop, but at the time she was drawing on and remixing dance and disco music of the 60’s and 70’s to build her sound, but no single song could be directly attributed to a single genre or era. And over time, she continued to evolve her sound by exploring new genres, working with new producers and new technology (along the way doing a lot of cultural borrowing that crosses the line into appropriation). But there is no mistaking the sound of 1984’s “Borderline” with 1998’s “Ray of Light” with 2005’s “Hung Up” - each is distinct within her catalogue and is in conversation with the music of its time, and what came before it.

Bruno’s newest single, “I Just Might,” easily could have fit onto any of his previous albums - the sound just has not evolved. Does that mean the music has no quality or value? Of course not. But should he be considered one of the all time great artists who pushed music forward? Again, I’d say the answer is no.

if they’re copying you, you’re winning

As another way of understanding Bruno’s artistry in the context of his success, let’s think about a clear sign that you are doing something impactful: copycats. In every era, people attempt to claim and put their stamp on sounds that are popular. The most innovative artists are purely original, but often our pop stars cycle a bit behind the curve, taking in sounds and styles through their work with producers and in turn elevating new sounds to the mainstream. And when you do this well, other pop stars want to copy your sound.

When Lady Gaga was getting her big break, people were constantly comparing her to Madonna and saying she was just Madonna 2.0. The combination of the synth pop sound, engagement with queer communities, and the penchant for courting controversy were building blocks of the formula that Madonna established. That was all the way back in 2008. Now fast forward to 2024, and Chappell Roan is getting compared to Lady Gaga, often with these same elements being cited. Of course, Gaga and Chappell aren’t mere copycats, but the fact that they are even being compared proves that Madonna became successful enough that people could reference her as the archetype.

Who is copying Bruno Mars? I really don’t think there is an obvious answer of a pop star who is taking the building blocks of the Bruno formula (retro sound often drawn from Black genres, overall positive and/or romantic messaging, aversion to controversy or hard edges at any cost) and trying to make it their own. Maybe you could argue that someone like Leon Thomas is using elements of this with a song like “Mutt.” However, don’t you think that with the success that Bruno has had over the past 15 years, we should have by now seen someone trying to copy him if his career truly had the makings of all-time greatness? Even if someone was copying Bruno, would it feel like they were copying him, or just copying the original Motown/Funk/R&B artists that serve as the archetype he himself is drawing from?

I could dive deep on songs, albums, performances, and eras, but the truth is, there really is not so much to differentiate the music of Bruno in 2010 from the work he is putting out today. If you wanted to argue in 2010 that he was a nostalgia act, he hasn’t really done anything since then to prove you wrong. He has absolutely made great pop songs and has solidified his place at the top of the charts, but I think it’s important that we don’t lose the forest for the trees by only looking at what we can measure in pop music. The artists that consistently inspire me, and many of us, do so not just because they can hit #1, but because by doing so, they actually change the sound and the story of popular music.