Billionaire
The Lazarus recording balances a detailed rap performance with Mars's refrain and an economical instrumental setting.
Artist
Travie McCoy Feat. Bruno Mars
Why we feature this artist The band detail beneath Billionaire's easy surface Billionaire feels casual, but the original studio credits reveal a specifically built instrumental setting. Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars's 2010 collaboration uses that light foundatio…
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- United States
- Sound
- Pop, hip-hop
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The artist, in context
The story of Travie McCoy Feat. Bruno Mars
Why we feature this artist
The band detail beneath Billionaire's easy surface
Billionaire feels casual, but the original studio credits reveal a specifically built instrumental setting. Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars's 2010 collaboration uses that light foundation to let a sung daydream and a more detailed rap account share the same space.
The original instruments and production
The Smeezingtons are credited with production and instruments, with Eric Hernandez on drums and Christopher 'Brody' Brown among the bass contributors. Those parts belong to the Lazarus recording, whose melodic refrain remains clear even when the verses increase the pace of the words.
A groove that leaves the story approachable
The backing does not need to sound monumental simply because the fantasy in the title is so large. Its ease makes room for jokes, details and a changing point of view, giving McCoy something more flexible than a heavy declaration to rap against. Mars's refrain then returns the song to a broad melodic wish. The record's charm is in that proportion: a very large imagined life presented through music small and relaxed enough to feel like a conversation.