Bruno Mars: No Longer Hustling; Heads To Grammys Then Super Bowl

Bruno Mars wasn’t always a crooner singing lovelorn songs about the one that got away. Once upon a time, before the Grammy nominations, and before he snatched a coveted spot at Super Bowl, Mars was simply a starving artist just trying to get by on his words.

These days Bruno Mars is known for penning some pretty great hits, but before he was singing his own hit songs, he was writing songs for other artists, like Cee Lo Green, Justin Bieber and B.O.B. While writing songs can be fulfilling for some artists, Mars isn’t interested in turning himself into a hustling music man.

Of his rough days before he hit it big, Mars said:

“There’s a piece of me that’s no longer there — which was basically let me write a song and then sell it. That was back in the day when I was struggling and hustling to pay rent. I was selling songs for 250 bucks, but now that I’m OK, I shouldn’t treat it like a sport.”

Years after producing for Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne and Flo Rida, and Bruno is more about collaborating in an organic way, rather than chasing a check. Of course these days he can afford to take his time and cherry pick the artists he wants to work with, even though his resume isn’t anything to cry over.

As an artist the 28-year-old has seen the most success over the past year. Mars, who is one of three producing partners that make up The Smeezingtons, finds himself nominated for four Grammys for his sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox. If that’s not enough his tour was so successful that he had to add a second leg for his fans. In addition, he also has a number one hit with “Locked Out of Heaven.”

Although Bruno makes it all seem pretty effortless, the crooner was candid in discussing his process in the studio for his hit song, having said:

“People didn’t see us going at each other’s throats in the studio and pulling out our hair for a song like ‘Locked Out of Heaven. Trying to get these drums right and figure out a base line. It being recognized in these monster categories is an extreme honor.”

Mars doesn’t just have the Grammys to look forward to, he also has the Super Bowl to gear up for as he is slated to perform at the halftime show on February 2.

[Image Credit: benzpics63 via photopin cc]