From Uptown to World Wide Funk: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Bootsy Collins Made an Album, Y’all
TheRoot.com, By Tonya Renee Stidhum, Posted April 15th 2021
It’s Friday and I’m at work (from home), but I’d “rather be with you.” Actually, I kind of am! Hey, readers of The Root, I have some great news to end the week on. There is an actual body of work featuring Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Bootsy Collins (the latter of whom is listed as a “special guest”). It’s called An Evening With Silk Sonic, which sounds delightfully smooth.
“We locked in and made an album. The band’s called Silk Sonic. First song drops next Friday 3/5,” Bruno wrote on Twitter about the first song’s drop date in March, causing the entire Twitter timeline to transition into psychedelic bliss. Yes yes, y’all, this may be the peak funk album of modern times.
Seriously, pretty much everyone was geeked. As Bootsy’s Twitter bio says, it was “spreading hope like dope.”
Plus, let’s talk about the perfect band name. Silk Sonic, y’all. That’s not a regular sound wave; that’s an eargasm bursting in between your brain. “That album smells like musk from here,” The Glow Up’s Managing Editor Maiysha Kai said, aptly.
In regards to the leading duo of Bruno and Anderson, Variety breaks it down:
The two have hooked up before, not on record but as tourmates when Paak opened for Mars on part of the “24K Magic” tour. The pair also put in separate appearances on the Chic album It’s About Time three years ago.
Mars’ last album, 2016’s 24K Magic, resulted in the star winning the triple crown at the 2018 Grammys, where besides Album of the Year he picked up Record of the Year for the title track and Song of the Year for “That’s What I Like.”
Paak released his last album more recently—Ventura came out in April 2019—but he’s been rife with one-offs since then, too. He put out four non-album singles just in 2020 (including a Trollz soundtrack collaboration with Justin Timberlake) appeared on a fifth (being a featured artist on Busta Rhymes’ “Yuuuu”).
As for Bootsy, the 69-year-old musician of Parliament-Funkadelic actually released his latest solo record called The Power of the One last year.
As Bruno noted, this newest trio’s first single will be released on March 5 so mark your calendars, throw on some shades and get ready for some next-level funkadelic vibes.
Staff Writer, Entertainment at The Root. Sugar, spice & everything rice. Equipped with the uncanny ability to make a Disney reference and a double entendre in the same sentence.
