Bruno Mars and the Death of R&B: Bruno Mars appears to have drawn influence from the majority of the trends that have shaped R&B, at a time when the genre was in steep decline. In 2004, he signed with Motown, the record label that launched the careers of many of his forefathers. The partnership introduced him to songwriter Philip Lawrence, with whom he began composing and producing songs for other singers under the name the Smeezingtons and developed music with a retro vibe.
He released the four-song EP It's Better if You Don't Understand in 2010, followed by Doo-Wops & Hooligans five months later, which featured the smash songs "Just the Way You Are," "Grenade," and "The Lazy Song." The album established him as a star and earned him his first Grammy nomination for best male pop vocal performance (for "Just the Way You Are"). Unorthodox Jukebox was released in December 2012, just two months after he released the album's hit track, "Locked out of Heaven." The album also featured the chart-topping singles "When I Was Your Man" and "Treasure," and was nominated for a Grammy for best pop vocal album. He later contributed to the 2014 track "Uptown Funk," a duet with British producer Mark Ronson that harkened back to 80s funk and R&B. The song, which was featured on Ronson's 2015 album Uptown Special, became a global smash and was nominated for a Grammy for record of the year.
How has Bruno Mars managed to be a successful artist taking inspiration from R&B in a time period where the genre was in steep decline?