Behind the Music of Uptown Funk
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We all know and love Uptown Funk, but what’s the story behind the music? In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the making of this now-classic song, from its inception to its current place in popular culture.
The song’s conception
It was conceived by Mark Ronson during a jam session with Bruno Mars and his band The Hooligans in 2013. The song’s name was inspired by Mars’ hometown of Uptown Manhattan in New York City.
The song’s inspiration
“Uptown Funk” was inspired by various funk artists from the 1970s including Minneapolis sound pioneer Prince, as well as James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ronson said that he wanted to channel the feel of those artists when he was making the track. “The whole reason we went in that direction was just to tip our hats,” he said. “You could call it a homage.”
The song’s composition
“Uptown Funk” was conceived by Ronson and Jeff Bhasker while riding in a London taxi. Ronson’s promoted the song as “Michael Jackson meets James Brown” while Bhasker described its sound as “a mix of old school rap, new school hip hop and funk all in one.”
The composition of “Uptown Funk” consists of several different hooks which are repeated throughout the song. The song opens with the sound of a brass section which is soon joined by bongos. The chorus features the lyric “Don’t believe me, just watch” which is repeated four times. The song also features a horns section and a driving bassline.
The song’s release
“Uptown Funk” is a song by American record producer Mark Ronson featuring English singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. The song was released as the lead single from Ronson’s fourth studio album, Uptown Special (2015), on 10 November 2014. The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Ronson’s first number one in the United States as a solo artist and Mars’ second as a featured artist.
The song’s reception
“Uptown Funk” was released to digital retailers on November 10, 2014, and to radio stations as the lead single from Ronson’s fourth studio album, Uptown Special (2015), on December 8, 2014. Upon its release, “Uptown Funk” received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production and Bruno Mars’ vocals. The song became an international commercial success, reaching number one in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In June 2015, “Uptown Funk” became the longest-running single in the United Kingdom since 1994 and the longest-charting single of all time in Australia where it spent 29 consecutive weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. In February 2016, “Uptown Funk” won two Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Commercially, “Uptown Funk” spent 14 weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and topped the charts in other countries including Australia (for eight weeks), Canada (seven weeks), New Zealand (six weeks) and the United Kingdom (five weeks). Its top-ten run extended to 38 weeks in Germany and 34 weeks in France.
The song’s commercial success
“Uptown Funk” was commercially successful upon its release. In the United States, the song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated November 29, 2014, behind Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”. The following week, it topped the chart, giving Mars his fourth number-one single and Ronson his first. The song remained atop the Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks, tying Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 recording “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” for the fourth longest-running number-one song in history. It also became Mars’ longest-running number one on the Hot 100 and Ronson’s second longest-running after “Valerie”. On January 17, 2015, Billboard announced that “Uptown Funk” was the top selling song of 2014 in their Year-End Charts.
The song’s legacy
Uptown Funk has been one of the biggest songs of the past decade. The song was released in 2014 and quickly rose to the top of the charts. It has been covered by many artists and has been used in countless commercials and movies. The song has a catchy beat and infectious lyrics that make it impossible to forget. Despite its popularity, the song has a bit of a dark history.
The song’s influence
“Uptown Funk” has been credited with helping to bring back the funk genre and reinvigorate soul music. It has also been described as a “perfect pop song” and has been praised for its catchiness, hooks, and production. The song has also been credited with starting the “new wave of neo-soul.”
The song’s place in popular culture
Uptown Funk has been described as an “infectious” song with a “old-school feel”, and as having a “catchy” hook. The song has been credited with reviving the “funk” genre, and has been referred to as a “perfect example” of funk-pop. InRolling Stone’s review of the album, the song was praised for its production, with Sara Anderson writing that it is “Thom Yorke at his funkiest and most immediate.”
The song has also been praised for its use of brass instruments, with Critics on AllMusic writing that it is “full of 1970s-style horn riffs”. In an interview with Complex, Ronson stated that he was inspired by both Bruno Mars’ love for old school funk music and Mark Ronson’s own background in hip hop, saying that the two genres had not been combined in a mainstream pop song since the 1980s. He also stated that he wanted to make a song that would be played in clubs and would make people want to dance.
