{"id":9386,"date":"2010-10-06T20:14:23","date_gmt":"2010-10-06T20:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=9386"},"modified":"2013-02-20T04:48:26","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T04:48:26","slug":"bruno-mars-in-ascension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=9386","title":{"rendered":"Bruno Mars in Ascension"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bruno Mars in Ascension<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

New York Times<\/a>
\n2010-10-05<\/p>\n

Jon Caramanica<\/strong><\/p>\n

When history books address the pop seismology of the early 21st century, a chapter will have to be set aside for a discussion of the Sheraton Waikiki in the late 1980s. That\u2019s where Bruno Mars<\/a>, then just a few years old, performed as part of a tourist-trap family band, singing doo-wop<\/a>, Elvis<\/a> and more. He even made a cameo as a baby Elvis in the 1992 film \u201cHoneymoon in Vegas<\/a>,\u201d appearing as a bouffant-haired tyke in a blue jumpsuit, with a fierce hip shake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe that\u2019s my past,\u201d Mr. Mars said in an interview before his first solo New York performance, a sold-out show at the Bowery Ballroom in late August. \u201cI wish I could tell you me and my rock band were traveling around, strung out. No, we were a family band. Straight Partridge Family<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s something to be said for learning a wide repertory at a young age, and also to feel no shame in people-pleasing. It\u2019s made Mr. Mars, 24, one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced voice that\u2019s an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor. There\u2019s nowhere he doesn\u2019t belong…<\/p>\n

…But his placelessness hasn\u2019t always been an asset. Born Peter Gene Hernandez, Mr. Mars is primarily of Puerto Rican<\/a> and Filipino<\/a> descent, which proved to be an obstacle in his industry dealings. \u201cI was always like, girls like me in school, how come these labels don\u2019t like me?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An early record deal with Motown<\/a> went nowhere. Race was always a concern. \u201cSadly, maybe that\u2019s the way you\u2019ve got to look at it,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess if I\u2019m a product, either you\u2019re chocolate, you\u2019re vanilla or you\u2019re butterscotch. You can\u2019t be all three.<\/strong>\u201d He named his debut EP, released this year, \u201cIt\u2019s Better if You Don\u2019t Understand\u201d\u2014a taunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t look at me\u2014listen to my damn music,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not a mutant.\u201d…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the entire article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruno Mars in Ascension New York Times 2010-10-05 Jon Caramanica When history books address the pop seismology of the early 21st century, a chapter will have to be set aside for a discussion of the Sheraton Waikiki in the late 1980s. That\u2019s where Bruno Mars, then just a few years old, performed as part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,24,13743,6,20],"tags":[4062,4063,2640,4064],"class_list":["post-9386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-arts","category-interviews","category-new-media","category-usa","tag-bruno-mars","tag-jon-caramanica","tag-new-york-times","tag-peter-gene-hernandez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}