That's What I Like (Bruno Mars Song)

"That's What I Like" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars from his third studio album, '' 24K Magic'' (2016). The song was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Johnathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves, and Ray McCullough II. The former three produced the song under the name of Shampoo Press & Curl with the latter four, as the Stereotypes, co-producing it. Atlantic Records released the song to Hot AC radio in the United States on January 30, 2017, as the second single from the album. The song is a hip hop soul, pop, and R&B track. The song's lyrics address extravagance, a luxurious lifestyle, and love.

"That's What I Like" received mixed reviews, some music critics considered the song to be one of the best on ''24K Magic'', while others criticized its lyrical content. The song was a commercial success in the US, where it peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; it reached number three in Canada and number four in New Zealand. It has been certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and seven-times platinum by Music Canada (MC) and Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ). The song was also certified diamond by the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP). It is the highest-charting single in the US from the album and was the world's fourth-best-selling digital single of 2017. It sold 9.7 million units, ranking among the best-selling singles worldwide.

The accompanying music video, which was directed by Jonathan Lia and Mars, depicts the latter reciting the song's lyrics and combines choreography with black-and-white animation. Mars performed the song on awards shows such as the 2017 Grammy Awards and the 2017 Brit Awards, and included it on his 24K Magic World Tour (2017–2018). It received several nominations and awards, winning Song of the Year at the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards, as well as Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Performance at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The song has been covered by various singers.

Background and development

In September 2014, Bruno Mars tweeted, "Now it's time to start writing chapter 3", hinting he was working on new music. Following the release of the successful Mark Ronson's single, "Uptown Funk" (2014) featuring Mars, the latter headed to the studio to record more songs. Mars affirmed he had no plans to release a new album "until it's done". It was due in March 2016, but Mars's appearance at the Super Bowl half-time show postponed it for several months. At the time, seven songs were already recorded.

The Stereotypes had known Mars and worked with him since 2007, but after he signed a deal with Atlantic Records they did not collaborate very often. In 2015, Jonathan Yip talked with Mars about working together. Mars was already recording ''24K Magic'' and asked for "some beats", which Yip sent. Mars later asked for more beats and the Stereotypes sent them, but they never heard from him; "nothing came of it". In June 2016, Yip contacted Mars, who asked Yip if they would like to help him finish a song for his album; he needed another song with a certain tempo and key. Yip sent Mars an idea that caught his attention; he asked the Stereotypes to go to the studio. After they helped Mars finish " 24K Magic", Mars challenged the team to help him with two more songs.

At this point, Mars had already shown the Stereotypes two songs, including a fully written and produced demo of "That's What I Like" that sounded like a ballad, according to Ray Romulus. Mars, however, told the Stereotypes he wanted the song to make him move in a certain way and that it was missing a certain "bounce". He wanted them to focus on the "groove, shifting and fine-tuning" until they found the "precise ingredient of danceable joy" that he wanted. The team started to change the rhythms and the drums of the song, and Mars danced along to it and stopped when he could not move to a chord or drum. Once the programming of the drums was finished, the song had a different feeling; despite its slow tempo it had a "danceable double-time". This is due to the trap beats, which modernized the track and gave it "bounce". Then, the Stereotypes tore everything else apart, giving the track new chords and a new pre-hook, B section, and bridge.

In November 2017, Mars was a guest on the '' Charlie Rose Show''. He said the album was intended to make people feel fabulous: "I'm talking about eating shrimp scampi and lobster tails and drinking strawberry champagne". Romulus said the lyrical concept came from Mars, adding, "All that about the Cadillacs and champagne ... that's how Bruno is. He's giving you a day in the life". During a phone interview with CBS Mars said that he second guessed the song, having to listen to it "for over a year to make sure it's all right." It was the first song that Mars asked James Fauntleroy to help him write.

Production and release

"That's What I Like" was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Christopher Brody Brown, Fauntleroy, Yip, Romulus, Jeremy Reeves, and Ray McCullough II. It was produced by Mars, Lawrence and Brown under the alias Shampoo Press & Curl; and co-produced by Yip, McCullough, Romulus, and Reeves as the Stereotypes. Eric "E-Panda" Hernandez played the live drums while Mars, Fauntleroy, and Lawrence performed background vocals. At Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California, Charles Moniz recorded and engineered the track with assistance from Jacob Dennis. It was mixed at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach by Serban Ghenea, with John Hanes serving as mixing engineer. The track was mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound, NYC.

" Versace on the Floor" was scheduled to be the second single released from Mars's third studio album ''24K Magic'' (2016). In early January 2017, however, AllAccess reported that "That's What I Like" was being sent to Top 40 radio stations as the second single instead. Atlantic Records released the track on January 30, 2017, to adult contemporary, hot adult contemporary and modern adult contemporary radio stations in the United States and to American contemporary hit radio and rhythmic contemporary stations on the next day. BBC Radio 1 began adding the song onto their playlists on February 24, 2017. In Italy, the song was sent for radio airplay on March 3, 2017, through Warner. On April 21, 2017, a package with four remixes of the song was released for digital download in various countries.

Composition

"That's What I Like" is a hip hop soul, pop, R&B, and funk song. It was composed in the key of B minor at a tempo of 67 beats per minute. The song features Mars in the center of the track, supported by enthusiastic backing vocals, Boyz II Men-style finger-snaps, a "silky pre-chorus", and "punctuating ad libs". Bill Lamb of ThoughtCo described the single as an "R&B groove, giving a nod to the new jack swing music of the late 1980s and early 1990s".

''Billboard'' Andrew Unterberger said the song is reminiscent of the R&B from the early 1990s, infused with New Jack Swing and a little hip-hop, comparing it to the "harmonies and Uptown production of early Jodeci". Christopher Weingarten of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that the track "brings the silky vibes" of R. Kelly's ''12 Play'' (1993) "into the boom of modern trap". Chris Molanphy from ''Slate'' defined "That's What I Like" as a mix of the "80s-into-90s styles like New Edition pop-and-B and New Jack Swing" infused with "the skittering, thumping 808 drums of a modern trap" song. He compared Mars's vocals to those of Bobby Brown, especially in his "high-register vocal". Katherine St. Asaph of ''Pitchfork'' compared its sound to that of '' The 20/20 Experience'' (2013) by Justin Timberlake. ''Vulture'' Craig Jenkins noted a resemblance between the composition of "That's What I Like" and The Neptunes' production of " Kitty Kat" (2006) by Beyoncé. The lyrics of the song have been described as "playful" and "opulent"; they were written from the point of view of someone "who loves himself" and luxury ("strawberry champagne and ice bucket") as much as his lover, with her being promised everything she wants, being allowed to "dictate the pace of the night". Mars references "Julio" from "Uptown Funk". On February 26, 2019, West Java's Indonesian Broadcasting Commission placed a daytime ban on the radio broadcast of several songs, including "That's What I Like", due to their adult, offensive and obscene lyrics.

Critical reception

"That's What I Like" received mixed reviews from music critics. Andrew Unterberger, writing for ''Billboard'', and Rob Arcand of ''Spin'' found the single to be one of the best on ''24K Magic''. ''Vulture'' Jenkins said the track is one of the best on the album and sonically one of the "most modern" songs due to "a killer vocal and tasteful trap drums". Peter Helman of ''Stereogum'' said the recording is one of the "catchiest" tracks on ''24K Magic''. Caroline Sullivan from ''The Guardian'' praised the song for paying homage to R Kelly, calling it a "resurrection". Karen Gwee from ''Consequence of Sound'' commended Mars's vocals and said the singer takes his vocals to the limit. Gwee dubbed the track "giddy". ''The Observer'' Kitty Empire praised the lyrics, saying Mars is able to give "conspicuous consumption with more charm than boorishness". In a mixed review Nick Levine, writing for ''NME'', said he did not enjoy the track's lyrics, despite finding them playful.

Jonathan Wroble of ''Slant Magazine'' criticized the lyrics, saying they appear to be "written with a dollar store's rhyming dictionary". He chose the rhymes between "beach house in Miami" and "Julio, serve that scampi" as an example. ''The Independent'' Andy Gill and Patrick Ryan from ''USA Today'' both found the lyrics on "That's What I Like" to exhibit a list of "unimaginative" and "obnoxious" hedonism.

"That's What I Like" was listed as the second best song of 2017 according to Associated Press's Mesfin Fekadu. She said, "Bruno Mars is perfect. That is all." It was the 34th among Billboard's 100 Best Songs of 2017: Critics' Picks list; Ross Scarano wrote that Mars "is a pop star of total hospitality" showing several clichés of a luxurious life, such as "sex in front of the fireplace and champagne with strawberries", "waking up inside clean sheets without any clothes on", and "the private chef, Julio, preparing shrimp scampi for dinner". In late 2017, Bill Lamb of ThoughtCo considered the single the fourth-best song by Mars. Minou Clark from ''HuffPost'' called the single "the ultimate cuffing season anthem" due to its "sexy smooth melody".

Accolades

In 2017, "That's What I Like" was nominated for Choice Song: Male Artist, Choice Music: Summer Song and Choice Music: R&B/Hip-Hop Song at the Teen Choice Awards. That same year, the song was also nominated for Song of the Year at the Telehit Awards. The single received the awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Song at the 2017 American Music Awards and for Song of the Year at the Soul Train Music Awards. In 2018, "That's What I Like" won Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The track received a nomination for Favorite Song at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and won R&B Song of the Year, whilst being nominated for Song of the Year at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards. It also received a Titanium Award from iHeartRadio for reaching a threshold of 1 billion total audience spins.

It was nominated for Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song (Video), Top Radio Song and Top R&B Song at the ''Billboard'' Music Awards, winning in the latter category. The song was one of the Top 10 Gold International Gold Songs at the RTHK International Pop Poll Awards. That same year, the track received the first issued accolade for Outstanding Song, Traditional category at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards. "That's What I Like" received two awards from ASCAP, one from the Pop Music Awards as one of the Most Performed Songs, and another from the Rhythm & Soul Music Awards as Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song. In the following year, at the same award ceremonies, it won, again, Most Performed Songs and it was one of the winners of Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Song.

Commercial performance

North America

Upon the album's release, "That's What I Like" debuted at number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the issue week of December 10, 2016. In February 2017, Mars's performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards helped the song to enter the top 10 of the Hot 100, where it remained for two months. The single rose to number two on the chart, spending four weeks there behind Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" (2017). After the release of several remixes, featuring artists such as Gucci Mane and PartyNextDoor, "That's What I Like" climbed to number one in its fifteenth week on the chart, replacing Kendrick Lamar's " Humble" (2017). Both songs spent one week on the top of the chart and the former became Mars's seventh number one single on the Hot 100. The track spent a total of ten weeks at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It spent 24 weeks in the top five of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming one of five singles to spend at least 24 weeks in the top five and 28 weeks in the top ten. As of 2018, Mars, Sheeran, and Jewel are the only artists with two songs to spend at least half a year in the top 10 of the Hot 100. The song spent a total of 52 weeks on the chart and ranked at number three on the Year-End ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

On the Radio Songs chart, "That's What I Like" peaked at number one and spent nine weeks there, becoming Mars's longest run at the top as a solo artist. It surpassed his previous seven-week number-one runs for " Just the Way You Are" (2010) and " Locked Out of Heaven" (2013). On the Mainstream Top 40 chart, the single peaked at number one, tying Mars with Justin Timberlake for the highest total among solo males of number one songs on the chart, with eight each one. For the week of July 22, 2017, the song returned to the top of the Hot R&B Songs chart, spending 20 weeks at number one. It tied with The Weeknd's " Starboy" (2016) and Drake's "One Dance" (2016), featuring WizKid and Kyla, for the most weeks spent at number one. In August 2020, the achievement was broken by The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (2019). "That's What I Like" peaked at number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart and topped the Year-End Chart in the format. The track reached the top spot on the Rhythmic chart. The single was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It became the fourth best-selling song of 2017 in the US, with 1,673,000 downloads and 835,856,000 streams.

On the Canadian Hot 100, the song peaked at number three on April 17, 2017, spending 38 weeks on the chart, and it was certified seven-times Platinum by the Music Canada (MC). The song ended 2017 at number seven on the Year-End Charts in Canada.

International

"That's What I Like" peaked at number 12 on the UK singles chart and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting sales and streams equivalent to 1,800,000 units. On the Belgian charts, the single debuted at number 34 on February 25, 2017, on the Ultratop 50 in Flanders, peaking at number three for two consecutive weeks in April. On the Ultratop 50 in Wallonia, the song debuted at number 34 on March 25, 2017, and went on to peak at number eight in May. It was certified platinum by the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA). The track peaked at number seven on the Portuguese Single Charts. It earned a platinum plaque from the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP), for its sales and streams equivalent to 20,000. "That's What I Like" entered the Official New Zealand Music Chart at number 26 on February 20, 2017. In its sixth week, the track peaked at number four, where it remained for two weeks. The song ranked at the fifth spot on the 2017 Year-End List and received a seven-time platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RMNZ), denoting sales and streams equivalent to 60,000 copies. In Australia, the single debuted at number 47 on the ARIA Singles Chart for the week of March 5, 2017. In its sixth week on the chart, the song peaked at number five, becoming Mars's twelfth top-ten single in Australia. It was certified four-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for exceeding 70,000 units. The song reached the top 20 in several other countries, including Denmark, Ireland, and Scotland. The song was the fourth-best-selling digital single of 2017, with 9.7 million units.

Music video

Background and concept

On March 1, 2017, Mars announced on his Twitter account that he had been filming the accompanying music video for "That's What I Like"; he said, "Just finished shootin it! I'm gonna edit it, take a bubble bath & then we party. Gimme 2 hours! Let the count down begin #TWIL". The visual was directed by Mars and Jonathan Lia. The choreography was done by the singer and Phil Tayag prior to the shooting, allowing Lia and Mars to produce animations before filming the video. Some animations were added in post-production by GenPop. The music video was filmed against a grey background in Los Angeles using a stationary camera throughout the entire shot. Several hand-drawn animations "relating to the lyrics" appeared and vanished off-frame; to create this effect, Lia filmed Mars while the song was played at half-speed. Lia then doubled the speed of the footage, making the "synced playback" have a "surreal feel to it", with a single, eight-minute take. Mars and Lia had a different concept for the music video, but the result was not what they expected when the two carried out a test shoot, and they decided to use a single light. When Mars started to dance, him and Lia they knew "that was the video". The video was released on March 1, 2017, via YouTube.

Synopsis

The visual begins with Mars wearing a black, white, and gold-striped silk shirt, black track pants, white sneakers and sunglasses. During the video, Mars dances alone against a white background with several animations, which move with him during his choreography, enacting the lyrics and music. The black-and-white animations include a mirror, Manhattan condominium, sipping strawberry champagne glasses, driving a Cadillac and its wheels, traveling to Paris, and dancing partners that appear as Mars dances across the screen. The cartoon sketches, related to the lyrics, were drawn to show the flexibility of the singer's dance moves. According to Rania Aniftos, Mars exudes charm throughout the music video.

Reception

Critics including Althea Legaspi from ''Rolling Stone'' and Minou Clark of ''HuffPost'' complimented Mars's dancing skills and choreography. Mike Wass, writing for Idolator, and ''Vulture''s Karen Brill compared the video to Drake's "Hotline Bling" (2015) due to its simplicity and "unadulterated feeling-yourself-ness". Wass and the staff of ''Rap-Up'' called Mars's footwork "fancy", while Brill said the visual is "wondrous" but that it should include "the ubiquitous music video cube". ''Vibe'' J'na Jefferson shared a similar perspective, saying "the magic of this video is in the simplicity" because of Mars's performance skills, visual effects, and editing. Alex Young of ''Consequence of Sound'' praised the combination of the choreographed dance and the animation. ''Billboard'' Rania Aniftos praised the music video, saying it will make viewers smile and hit "the replay button". In 2017, it won Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan and was nominated for Best International Video at the LOS40 Music Awards 2017, a category decided by a Jury. The video received the award for Video of the Year at the 2017 American Music Awards. In 2018, it won the award for Outstanding Music Video at the NAACP Image Awards and earned a nomination for Best Music Video at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The video effects were available on Facebook for users to try; it was the first time the platform made a based camera effect around music. As of August 2023, the music video has reached over 2 billion views.

Live performances and use in other media

Mars's first live performance of "That's What I Like" occurred at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12, 2017. Mars danced in synchronization with his backup singers, and towards the end of the song he made a "doo-wop harmonizing" breakdown while interacting with women in the crowd and using his falsetto vocals. The performance was well received by critics. Joe Lynch of ''Billboard'' rated Mars's performance 11 out of 20, saying, "Bruno Mars is one of pop's finest showmen" who "can make an unextraordinary song such as 'That's What I Like' sound like a bona fide hit ... he sang the hell out of it". Billy Nilles of ''E! News'' wrote that Mars showed his "smooth dance moves and silky vocals", and that "every lady in the crowd looked as they were putty in Bruno's hand". ''Rolling Stone''s Elias Leight described the singer as being on "seduction mode", using his vocals to demonstrate it. Mars's voice reminded Leigh of the "firepower" of New Edition's Johnny Gill.

Mars later performed the song live at the 2017 Brit Awards on February 21; he was "dressed in a vintage-inspired 1990s color-block collared top with navy slacks" and along with his band, performed a routine choreography. Halfway through the track, Mars serenaded the audience. At the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards, he performed the song as part of a medley with the single "Treasure", a track on Mars's second studio album ''Unorthodox Jukebox'' (2012). Andrew Unterberger, writing for ''Billboard'', found the performance to be the best of the night because Mars made the medley work "seamlessly". An acoustic version of the single was performed on the '' Charlie Rose Show''; it featured Mars and some of his bandmates sitting at a table and using it as a soft drum set. Mars performed the single at the Apollo Theater alongside the majority of the ''24K Magic'' album for his CBS prime time special titled '' Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo'', which aired on November 29, 2017. "That's What I Like" was also sung during the Mars's third tour, 24K Magic World Tour (2017–18) and it was part of the setlist of An Evening with Silk Sonic at Park MGM (2022), a concert residency performed by Mars with Anderson .Paak, as Silk Sonic.

Kurt Hugo Schneider and Mario Jose covered "That's What I Like", releasing their version for download on July 13, 2017. Macy Kate recorded a cover of the single, which is now only available on YouTube. The song was also used in Jersey Shore Family Vacation in season 1, 2, and 3

Track listings

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''24K Magic''.

* Bruno Mars – lead vocals, songwriting, background vocals
* Philip Lawrence – songwriting, background vocals
* Christopher Brody Brown – songwriting
* James Fauntleroy – songwriting, background vocals
* Johnathan Yip – songwriting
* Ray Romulus – songwriting
* Jeremy Reeves – songwriting
* Ray McCullough II – songwriting

* Eric "E-Panda" Hernandez – live drums
* Shampoo Press & Curl – production
* The Stereotypes – co–production
* Charles Moniz – recording, engineering
* Jacob Dennis – engineering assistance
* Serban Ghenea – mixing
* John Hanes – mix engineering
* Tom Coyne – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

* List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number ones of 2017
* List of ''Billboard'' Mainstream Top 40 number-one songs of 2017
* List of ''Billboard'' Rhythmic number-one songs of the 2010s
* List of number-one R&B/hip-hop songs of 2017 (U.S.)

References

External links

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2016 songs
2017 singles
Bruno Mars songs
Songs written by Bruno Mars
Songs written by Philip Lawrence (songwriter)
Songs written by James Fauntleroy
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Hip-hop soul songs
New jack swing songs
Song recordings produced by the Stereotypes
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
Songs written by Christopher Brody Brown
Songs written by Jonathan Yip
Songs written by Ray Romulus
Songs written by Jeremy Reeves
Songs written by Ray Charles McCullough II
Atlantic Records singles
Songs about Florida
Songs about Puerto Rico
Music videos directed by Bruno Mars