Pop superstar Bruno Mars recently sat down with Latina magazine where he opened up much about his life from his family, multi-racial roots, musical influences and opinion on a timely issue on race, even claiming Black Music is what gives America its swag.
Mars gives credit to his family, his father Pedro Hernandez, for inspiring his music and persona. This influence has manifested in his recent music, according to Latina Magazine. His musical collaboration with Mark Ronson which brought "Uptown Funk", one of the most viewed videos on YouTube with more than 2 billion views, reveals the singer's musical persona which was inspired by his father. With his Latino roots, his music is characterized as a "conscious ode to Latino and African American masculinity" by Latina magazine.
Delving into more personal issues as a struggling artist, Mars admits the he personally experienced racial discrimination at an early age which he describes as an issue which has become politically relevant again. With his mixed background, being born from a Filipina-Spanish mother and Puerto Rican-Jewish father, he reveals to have dealt with the idea of "not being easily categorized."
"A lot of people think, 'This is awesome. You're in this gray zone, so you can pass for whatever the hell you want.' But it's not like that at all. It's actually the exact opposite," Mars said to Latina magazine. "What we're trying to do is educate people to know what that feels like so they'll never make someone feel like that ever again... I hope people of color can look at me, and they know that everything they're going through, I went through," he added.
The 31-year-old singer also clarified in the interview that he is proud of his roots most especially, being Puerto Rican. He explained that he neither changed his name nor drop his original last name "Hernandez" and went on with his stage name "Bruno Mars" due the oxymoron by the music business.
"You're making a business out of these songs that I'm writing. And how are you going to tell me that this song that I'm writing is only going to be catered to Puerto Ricans or to white people or only Asian people. My music is for anybody who wants to listen to it," Mars expounded on his multi-racial roots to Latina magazine.
With his continued dominance as a pop superstar, he is often compared to musical geniuses such as Michael Jackson, James Brown and Prince. Hence, Mars' music has been classified as "Black Music" to which the pop superstar claims as what "gives America its swag".
"When you say 'black music,' understand that you are talking about rock, jazz, R&B, reggae, funk, doo-wop, hip-hop, and Motown. Black people created it all. Being Puerto Rican, even salsa music stems back to the Motherland [Africa]. So, in my world, black music means everything. It's what gives America its swag," he declares to Latina magazine.
See another widely acclaimed music "24K Magic" from Bruno Mars in the video below.