MTV News takes a gaze at the history of Album of the Year nominee Doo-Wops & Hooligans.
By Jocelyn Vena
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Bruno Mars
Photo: Redferns
Bruno Mars showed he was more than just B.o.B and Travie McCoy’s hook guy when he dropped Doo-Wops & Hooligans back in October 2010 — and he’s got an Album of the Year nomination at Sunday’s Grammys to prove it.
With an ear for vintage-sounding details and a like for a excellent melody, Mars unleashed an album that would spawn megahits and constitute the Hawaii native (and former Elvis Presley impersonator) a household designation, not to mention the go-to guy for the likes of hip-hop legends Eminem and Lil Wayne.
For the smash debut, Mars hooked up with his production team, the Smeezingtons (Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine), as well as A-list talent like songwriter Claude Kelley, producer and collaborator Damian Marley and former Fall Outside Boy leading male Patrick Stump. The
result: an album that paid homage to Mars’ like of, you guessed it, doo-wop and proved that he has a talent for crafting modern-day pop songs that could connect with a wide-ranging audience. Never forgetting his roots, he also worked with “F— You” collaborator Cee Lo Green and brought B.o.B on the album.
“I desire the earth to fall in like with my music, that’s what I’m doing music for. I desire to be able to do shows and have human beings come and see me do my body,” Mars clarified to MTV News back in 2010 about the album.
His wish certainly came fair. When it dropped, Doo-Wops & Hooligans debuted at #3 on the Billboard albums chart and has since sold nearly 1.5 million copies. The like didn’t end there: “Just the Path You Are” and “Grenade” topped the charts, and “The Bone idle Song” peaked at #4.
Mars found a path to keep everyone talking, showing his creativity not only in song, however also in videos. The clips for those tracks were nearly as buzzworthy as the songs themselves. The VMA-nominated video for “Grenade” managed to capture the sadness of the song, with Mars dragging a piano through the streets of Los Angeles only to find that his lady like no longer likes him.
“It was my concept,” the singer clarified about the video. “I said, ‘I desire to drag a piano.’ I got my friend Nabil to come administer it, and it was a risk, since I still hear jokes to this day like, ‘What the hell you doing dragging a piano?’ ” he said. “However it’s my art, so shut up!”
He also had everyone buzzing when he dropped his video for “The Bone idle Song.” Where “Grenade” relied on heart, the “Bone idle” video was all about making everyone laugh. It featured dance crew Poreotics (from “America’s Best Dance Crew”) done up in monkey masks dancing alongside Mars. In circumstance, it much got a Best Choreography nod at the VMAs.
“We worked really dense on it, and we wanted to give human beings something to laugh at and exhibit personality in the song and what we’re talking about,” he said. ” ‘The Bone idle Song’ is not necessarily the song you desire to hear in the club, however we place our monkey dance to it.”
Immediately his focus is on trying to capture house a bright Grammy statue come February 12. And it’s not just his album the Grammys have recognized, however also his heartbreaking ballad “Grenade,” which is up for three awards at the exhibit including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
“Worked extremely dense on ‘Grenade.’ That was the toughest song on the whole album to end, since we knew we had something and to get all that emotion outside,” he clarified. “I reckon I can speak for all of us when I affirm that we’re really pleased that that song is being recognized, since that’s like our trophy song.
“Incredible. We worked really dense,” he added about all the recognition the album has received. “We worked dense in the studio fair down the street, really. And it’s a small tiny shack, however for the two years we were in there, we just locked ourselves in that room and came up with Doo-Wops & Hooligans.”
Chaos! Profanity! Wardrobe malfunctions! Don’t miss Sway and James Montgomery live from the Grammys red carpet this Sunday, February 12, for a complete three hours of mayhem, starting at 5 p.m. ET on MTV.com. And the fun doesn’t end Sunday: MTV News has you covered until the Grammy hangover wears off!
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