“That’s not always how it goes,” he says.
The
native eventually got the record deal and tour, but they didn’t come
about the way he wanted. Before he was able to step out with his debut
album “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” he first had to prove his mettle
producing and writing songs for others.
He co-wrote and can be heard on B.o.B’s “Nothin’ on You” and
a hand to Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You.”
His work with these artists and with others such as
“I was frustrated, waiting around to work with
producers and writers. Then I said, ‘I can do that. I don’t need
anybody else,’ so I started writing and producing tracks,” he says.
Another label impressed by his songs approached him and wanted one of his productions for boy group Menudo.
“I said that was my art — my music. They offered me
20 grand. That’s all it cost to sell out,” he says of the song titled
“Lost,” which he says went “double plastic. It wasn’t a great song. I
wrote it when I was 17 and I didn’t know what to write about.”
Still, says Mars, now 25, it was the smartest thing he could have done.
“It opened my eyes. I was able to learn so much
before putting out my first album. I got to work with other artists,
and it laid the groundwork for me to be ready and put some real songs
together,” he says.
Atlantic finally took a chance on him.
“For years I had been getting rejected and rejected
and rejected,” he says. “I was like, ‘Is this going to happen?’ Then
everything took off.”
That route ultimately made it easier for Mars to step forward as a solo artist.
“It’s easier when you understand more about what
you’re doing. It’s like a football player knowing the rule book in and
out and knowing the sizes of the pads you wear when you go into the
field,” he says. “You have to know every detail about your craft, and
when I was younger I didn’t know. And I’m still learning every day.”
Mars says his previous work with other artists served as a warning to folks on where he’s coming from.
“‘Nothing on You’ had a Motown vibe, ‘Billionaire’
was a reggae acoustic guitar-driven song, though one of my favorites is
the Cee-Lo song. I don’t think anyone else could’ve sung that song,” he
says. “And there’s ‘Just the Way You Are.’ If you know my story, you
know I love all different genres of music.”
Mars claims reggae,
Mars says his love of doo-wop and his album title
might make one think he’s “a geek writing love songs in the studio all
day,” but he’s anything but that.
“There is a romantic side, but I’m also a young guy
having fun,” he says. (Some may say too much fun. He’s awaiting trial
on cocaine possession charges after he was arrested in
“If you come to the show, you’re going to see a
couple of young guys jumping around having a blast. Get ready to have
your face blown off,” he says. “It’s exciting and raw, and I’m dripping
by the end of the show.”
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(c) 2010, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
