Bruno Mars: “I Just Might” Track Review

There’s an Onion joke from the ’90s that still makes me chuckle when I think of the headline: “National Funk Congress Deadlocked on Get Up/Get Down Issue,” in which Majority Leader James Brown and Minority Leader Bootsy Collins try to settle it once and for all. Back then, West Coast rap was rearing G-funk and Jamiroquai ruled the UK charts. These days, a good old-fashioned call to the dancefloor comes not from funk’s protégés, but pop queens atop disco horses and lingerie pyramids—that is, until they inevitably must cede the floor to Bruno Mars.

On “I Just Might,” the lead single from his first new solo album in a decade, he casts his ballot: “You gotta get down.” For Mars, it’s less about the direction than the impulse itself: “It would break my heart/If I find out you can’t move.” After an off-mic count-in, he takes it upon himself to get the masses moving with retro handclaps, crisp trumpets, and a perky bassline that shuffles between easygoing drums. Of course Mars, a lifelong attendee of soul camp, adds two wordless hooks for good measure: the first, a “doot-doot” melody that descends the scale like it’s twirling down a spiral staircase; the second, a passionate three-note delivery of “oh’s” not unlike those in Junior Senior’s aughts hit “Move Your Feet.” Although Mars’ belting occasionally passes for Anderson .Paak’s croon—flirtacious and poured from a wide, toothy smile—like a faded tattoo from their Silk Sonic days, he delivers the type of chart-topping boogie that’s quintessentially him. He’ll be luring you to the wedding dancefloor whether you like it or not.