Mark Ronson is taking over the pop world with his new single "Uptown Funk" from his fourth studio effort Uptown Special, out today, Jan. 13. The producer invited a slew of artists to join in on the album, but the biggest addition was Bruno Mars, who worked on the lead single. Ronson and Mars have met before on the latter's 2012 release Unorthodox Jukebox and even performed a tribute to Amy Winehouse — another Ronson artist — at the 2011 MTV VMAs. It is a partnership that has been pretty good to all parties involved.
Ronson, in modest fashion, gave all the props to Mars for the surprise success of "Uptown Funk" in a recent Q&A with the Associated Press.
"I know of course it has so much to do with Bruno," he said. "It's like even if the record was garbage, it's Bruno Mars, you're guaranteed a certain level of attention, right? ... I'm as proud of ['Uptown Funk']. ... It's awesome, but at the same time it almost feels like it's happening to somebody else."
The producer also talked about sharing the stage with the pop star, who is known for his high energy and showmanship.
"When you're going on tour and you get to play these songs that you wrote and get the thing from the crowd, that is fun. But when you're standing next to somebody like Bruno Mars — probably, maybe the greatest male live performer-entertainer of his generation — there's no need to try and claw some of the spotlight for yourself," he added.
"There was some MTV thing that [called us] 'Pop's new power couple.' I just wrote him an email. I was like, 'Is it weird that I get a nice feeling when someone calls us a power couple? As if we're Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg or something. Do we need a name — like Brark Manson?'"
Mars is not the only valuable member of the team this time around, though. Ronson also recruited Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon to write lyrics for the album.
