Bruno Mars responded to claims that he's appropriating Black culture.
During a recent interview, Bruno was asked how he'd respond to people who have called him a "culture thief.”
He said,"I would say: You can’t look at an interview, you can’t find an interview where I’m not talking about the entertainers that’ve come before me. The only reason why I’m here is because of James Brown, is because of Prince, Michael Jackson — that’s the only reason why I’m here. I'm growing up as a kid, watching Bobby Brown, saying, ‘OK, if that’s what it takes to make it, then I’ve got to learn how to do the running man, I’ve got to learn how to do the moon walk.’ That’s it. And this music comes from love, and if you can’t hear that, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
Bruno continued by saying, “It's not a secret. We wear the inspiration on our sleeve. What is the point if us, as musicians, can’t learn from the guys that’ve come before us? Why did they do it? I hope that later on, down the road, there's going to be a band that's taking what we did and flipping that, and freaking that, and putting their own spin on it — because if they don't, then what was the point of us doing this?”
Then, when he was asked if all this ever annoys him, Bruno said, "No, it comes with the gig. There's real merit to what people are saying about Black entertainers not getting their flowers. I'm championing that, I'm with that. At the time, when it kind of popped off on the internet, I was looking in the mirror like, what am I not seeing? Do I have this pass that I don't know about? Where can I get this pass? Because I could use some for me and my friends.”
