Check out the last post here
Dr. Dre uses a ghostwriter for his songs. He is a producer. Kanye West uses a ghostwriter for his songs. He is also a producer. Never would these two producers be spoken as top-anything artists because of the ghostwriters (which makes me wonder why Drake is considered a top artist to many but that’s another story). This doesn’t make their music any less enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing (in fact, because they have a ghostwriter they are able to make great incredible records due to their skills as producers), but it does respectfully disqualify them from a discussion of skill. So why is it that producers that rap ghost bars can be put in their proper lane as top-tier producers that will also occasionally get in the booth, but a artist like Bruno Mars is praised and rewarded excessively despite hijacking New Jack Swing to a generation of young people that simply wouldn’t know or care to learn the origins of the sounds he uses?
Yes, this will be a ad hominem attack on Bruno Mars (not that he's any stranger to that) but not in the sense that I am trying to throw insults, but rather attack the parts of his talent that stems from the appropriation of sounds in a genre of music that, again, is mostly unknown to those born in the past 25 years.
I cannot go in on the particular songs that I have a problem with concerning Bruno Mars without first addressing what he does do that’s unique (don’t want to hate TOO hard). Bruno makes soulful catchy songs and he is an excellent performer that deserves to be mentioned among the Chris Browns of male performing artists. He also has a deep infatuation with new jack swing. While I cannot really describe that sound (ill defer to my elders for that), what I can say is that to me, New Jack swing reminds me of an episode of soul train, with funky instruments, smooth voices, and a lot of dancing. Anyone who grew up in an urban household with parents who listened to R&B stations knows what I'm talking about. The song that describes what I'm trying to say here best is 24k magic.
My problem with Bruno is not that he's taking the sound and flipping it and adding a 21st-century groove to it. My problem is that his use of these sounds and how they almost always blow up makes younger people not understand that he is doing just that. Older people are going to rock with him because those sounds remind them of their younger days. I think that is giving him a pass. When discussing peoples artistry and creativity, I believe that there should be certain caveats. Just like people who use steroids in baseball have an asterisk next to their name in the history books is the same way artists that use heavily influenced sounds and such to make there should also have an asterisk when discussing the best. Again, I'm not saying that Bruno is garbage. I'm saying that his music should be recognized for what it is: a repackaging of new jack swing for people old enough to know and an introduction of new jack swing to those who are too young to have ever known.
*Sidenote: If I had to give an example of an artist like Bruno in Hip-Hop culture, I would probably say Joey Bada$$ because of his obvious infatuation with 90's Hip-Hop. He's not a trash artist, but he can't be considered top tier to me because of the template he uses to make his songs.*