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Uptown Funk

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"Uptown Funk"
Song

"Uptown Funk" (stylised as "UpTown Funk!" on the cover) is a song recorded by English producer Mark Ronson with guest vocals by Bruno Mars for Ronson's fourth studio album, Uptown Special (2015). Sony Music Entertainment released the song as the album's lead single on 10 November 2014.[1] The song was written by Ronson, Jeff Bhasker, Mars, Philip Lawrence, Aaron Munro, Devon Gallaspy and Nicholaus Williams; with Ronson credited for producing it as well.

The single has been commercially successful, topping the charts in several countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and peaked in the top two in the US. The single holds the title of the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the United Kingdom, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a single week.[2]

Writing and production

In 2012, Ronson produced songs for Bruno Mars' second studio album Unorthodox Jukebox, including the singles "Locked Out of Heaven" and "Gorilla".[3] In June 2014, Ronson told Capital FM that he and Mars planned on working together again. "[Mars] had a incredible run and it was great to be able to work on that record with him and hopefully we'll be making music for a while."[4] Since Mars on his tour, Ronson had accrued frequent flyer miles by trying to enroll Mars for this album. Uptown Special co-producer Jeff Bhasker along with Ronson would set up shop whenever and wherever they found time with Mars, eventually recording in Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Vancouver, Memphis, and New York City. Mars wound up playing drums throughout the album, as well as co-writing the lead single. "It was six or seven months of chasing Bruno around on tour," confirmed Ronson.[5] Part of the track was recorded at Cherry Beach Sound in Toronto.

"Uptown Funk" stems from a lick that Mars and his band were playing on tour. “When we hit on that opening line -- ‘This shit, that ice cold/ Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold’—we knew that we had the seed of this really exciting idea,” Ronson said, adding that he pushed himself more in this song than anything else he has worked in the past. Nevertheless, the airtight turnarounds and sharp horn lines in "Uptown Funk", courtesy of members of Antibalas and Dap Kings, didn’t come easy. At one point during the song’s seven-month creation, Ronson collapsed over lunch. “There was all of this pressure because Bhasker was leaving at the end of the day,” Ronson recalls. “The plan was for me to record my guitar part by lunch. Lunchtime comes around and I still haven't nailed the part. We go out and in the stress of finishing this song I fainted in the restaurant. I threw up three times. Jeff had to carry me back to the studio.” In the end, they got it—on take 82.[5]

Composition and influences

"Uptown Funk"
A sample of "Uptown Funk".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Ronson believes the song "turned into a full-on combustible groove workout with elastic bass and indomitable spirit."[5] The song has been "catching the allusions to one early '80s funk/R&B classic after another". Many fans have been citing "Cameo horns, the Time [keyboards], and 'Party Train' [by the Gap Band] drums."[6]

According to Billboard's author, Sean Ross, the song is widely influenced by funk artists and their songs, including Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce", One Way's "Cutie Pie", The Gap Band's "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops, Up Side Your Head)", Earth, Wind & Fire's "Getaway", The Sequence's "Funk You Up", The Sugarhill Gang's "Apache", George Kranz's "Trommeltanz (Din Daa Daa)" and The Time's "Cool". The only credited song on "Uptown Funk" was the 2012 top 10 R&B and rap hit Trinidad James' "All Gold Everything" (which gives the song its "don't believe me, just watch" chant). Nevertheless, many of the songs cited "were released during the worst period of a "disco backlash" that effectively kept all types of black music, not just disco, off of top 40.", while "Uptown Funk" received instant airplay at top 40 radio.[6]

Critical reception

The song has received positive reviews from most music critics. Nick Murray of Rolling Stone was positive, giving the song a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, praising "some George Kranz scatting and a Nile Rodgers guitar riff". He also wrote that Mars, Ronson and The Hooligans "channel the days when brags weren't humble and disco wasn't retro.".[7] Brennan Carley of Spin Magazine noted that "Mars sounds a bit like Nelly on the track, sing-rapping his way through goofy lyrics ("Got Chucks on / With Saint Laurent / Gotta kiss myself / So pretty")", while comparing the bass line to something "taken straight from Prince's playbook". He added that "It's a definite step towards more classic funk for Ronson, who has a history of dabbling in heavy horn sections and walking guitar solos". He finished by saying "Mars' voice keeps things light and bubbly though, making "Uptown Funk" the kind of song you'll be unable to escape on the radio in a matter of days."[8]

Chart performance

On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at number 65 on the week-ending 21 November 2014 due to digital downloads sold.[9] The following week, during its second week, "Uptown Funk" sold 110,000 digital copies, becoming the Hot 100's top Digital Gainer of the week, and nearing Streaming Songs with a gain of 2.5 million U.S. streams.[10] The song soared 47 positions to number 18 in its second week on the Hot 100.[10] On its third week the song rose to number eight, after its first full seven-day tracking period after the premiere of the music video, with 4.4 million streams, digital sales of 167,000 copies and debuting at Radio Songs at number 46 (28 million audience).[11] So far, the song has earned Ronson his first top 10 as an artist (and in his first visit with such a billing) and his third top 10 as a producer (Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" (No. 9, 2007) and Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" (No. 1, 2012-13).[11] On its fourth week, the song reached the top five spot. On the other hand, this ensures Mars' eleventh top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, passing Katy Perry and Rihanna (10 each) for the most top five titles on this span.[12] On its fifth week, it reached a peak of number 3, staying there for two weeks. The song claimed the Hot 100's three top Gainer awards (Digital, Streaming, Airplay), marking just the fifth title to sweep all three categories in the nearly three years of their side-by-side existence, and making Ronson the first male soloist to top Digital Songs with a debut chart entry (as a lead) since Sam Smith's "Stay with Me".[13] The next week the song reached it's current peak of 2.

On 29 November 2014, "Uptown Funk" debuted at number 63 on the Canadian Hot 100.[14] In its second week, it entered the top 10 with digital sales and airplay gainer honors.[14] In the week of 25 December 2014, the song sold 34,000 downloads.[15] The following week, the song peaked at number one.

Following a cover by Fleur East on The X Factor UK reaching number one on iTunes, "Uptown Funk" was rush-released, with its release date being brought forward by five weeks.[16] It debuted at number one in the United Kingdom with first-week chart sales of 118,000.[17][18] This gave Ronson his first UK number one as either a producer or artist.[18] The next week, despite selling over 181,000 copies, "Uptown Funk" fell to number two, being denied the coveted Christmas number one by The X Factor UK winner Ben Haenow's winner's single, "Something I Need".[19] In that same week, "Uptown Funk" made UK chart history by being the first single to be streamed more than 2 million times in a single week, being streamed a total of 2.34 million times. In doing so, the single took the title of being the all-time most streamed track in a single week, replacing Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud".[2] The following week,"Uptown Funk" returned to number one and improved on its streaming record, being streamed 2.49 million times.

In Ireland, the song debuted at number 2 on 12 December 2014, and the following week peaked at the top of the Irish Singles Chart, taking the Christmas number one spot. In doing this, it became the first song not released by The X Factor winner to reach this position in nine years.[20]

Music video

The official music video was released on 17 November 2014 exclusively on Yahoo Screen. It stars Mars, Ronson and the Hooligans. On 19 November, it was released on Vevo and YouTube.

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United States[1] 10 November 2014 Digital download Sony Music Entertainment
Australia[64]
United Kingdom[16] 8 December 2014

References

  1. ^ a b Robbie Daw (30 October 2014). "Mark Ronson Announces "Uptown Funk" Single, Featuring Bruno Mars". Idolator. Spin Media. Retrieved 1 November 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b Wright, Callum (28 December 2014). "Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk breaks all-time streaming record!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (11 December 2012). "Bruno Mars, 'Unorthodox Jukebox': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  4. ^ Ryan Reed, Daniel Kreps (10 November 2014). "Bruno Mars Helps Mark Ronson Chase Down 'Uptown Funk'". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Ray Rogers (10 November 2014). "Mark Ronson Says New Single With Bruno Mars 'Uptown Funk' Is a Milestone for Both of Them". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  6. ^ a b Sean Ross (24 November 2014). "From Sugarhill Gang to Trinidad James, a Look at the Influences of Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars' 'Uptown Funk'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  7. ^ Nick Murray (10 November 2014). "Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk"". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  8. ^ Brennan Carley (10 November 2014). "Bruno Mars Brings the 'Uptown Funk' on New Mark Ronson Single". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. ^ Trust, Gary (21 November 2014). "Hot 100 Chart Moves: Meghan Trainor Hits Top 40, Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars Debut". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  10. ^ a b Trust, Gary (28 November 2014). "Hot 100 Chart Moves: Band Aid 30 Debuts, Nicki Minaj Ties Madonna's Hit Total". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  11. ^ a b Trust, Gary (3 December 2014). "Taylor Swift No. 1 on Hot 100, Selena Gomez, Mark Ronson Hit Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
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  31. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 50. týden 2014 in the date selector. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
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  50. ^ "Gaon Digital Chart - Week 52, 2014" (in Korean). Gaon. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
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  62. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  63. ^ "British single certifications – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 January 2014. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Uptown Funk in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  64. ^ "iTunes - Music - Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars) - Single by Mark Ronson". iTunes.
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