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Is Bruno Mars an R&B or a pop singer? Trey Songz sparks debate as fans call him 'king of funk'

With Bruno Mars enjoying a massive fan base, Trey Songz’ question sparked a new debate dividing the social media with their opinions

Bruno Mars is one of the most versatile singers of this generation and he is best known for his R&B-cum-pop songs sprinkled with funk. However, singer Trey Songz feels Bruno Mars is never part of the discussion when it comes to R&B, and taking the same curiosity to Twitter he popped the question to his followers.

Since the Grammy award-winning singer Bruno Mars enjoys a massive fan base, Trey Songz’s question sparked a new debate dividing the Internet with their opinions. Trey himself is a much-acclaimed R&B singer who has delivered hits like ‘Heart Attack’, ‘Say Aah’ and ‘Bottoms Up’ among others. He has overall sold more than 25 million records worldwide.
 
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Why y’all never put Bruno in the R&B convo: Trey Songz

Sharing the tweet with his close to 14 million followers on Twitter, the 36-year-old singer-songwriter asked his fans why Bruno Mars is not considered an R&B singer. “Why y’all never put Bruno in the R&B convo? Smh.” Though Trey did not reveal why all of a sudden he posted the tweet, we can assume it might be related to Mars’ most recent release ‘Skate’ with Anderson .Paak.

The Silk Sonic duo’s latest song is a follow-up to their mega-hit ‘Leave the Door Open’ which went viral within hours of its release in March 2021. The song peaked at number one on various charts, including the US Billboard Hot 100.  For the uninitiated, Bruno Mars has won a total of 11 Grammy awards from his 16 nominations and interestingly, he has scooped the golden trophy in both Pop and R&B categories. The celebrated singer has sold over 130 million records worldwide making him one of the top-selling artists of all time.

‘Bruno Mars doesn’t give sexy vibes’

Trey Songz’s tweet led to quick reactions from social media users. One user answered the singer’s tweet saying, “Because he doesn't make original R&B music all he does is sample past songs from 70's and sings over them 24K magic was literally all samples or remakes of new jack swing he doesn't bring any originality too R&b.” Another shared, “LOL i'm reading some of these tweets and some of yall acting like r&b music is just a black genre, if that was the case we wouldn't have singers like Teena Marie, just because he Hawaiian should take away from his sound, r&b means rhythm & blues. i hear it in some of his music.”
 
One user tweeted, “People are scared to invited everybody into the "cookout" like before. Look at how the public loved Justin Timberlake & then dropped him in recent years.” While another added, “Chris Brown makes mainly pop music and always brought up in R&B discussions so Bruno can enter the discussion.” The next one posted, “I feel like majority of his discography is pop, that’s why he is labelled as a pop star. 24K Magic and Silk Sonic are definitely more R&B though, I personally would put him in the middle. His versatility is iconic!” One user claimed, “He’s not really R&B. You’re R&B. I don’t wanna hear no sexy music from Bruno Mars. He doesn’t give sexy vibes.” 

Other users felt he is more into funk than other genres. “Honestly, I personally don't see Bruno as R&B. I see him as Funk. Not many mainstream artists identify under Funk. Funk is in fact a separate genre to R&B. It's not like Bruno doesn't have R&B in his catalog because he absolutely does but majority of his music is Funk,” said a fan while another added, "Bruno Mars is the king of funk". One fan posted, "because he definitely needs to be in the conversation. He’s been long gone from pop since Uptown Funk but he’s consistently delivered." And another tweeted, "