It’s been almost 10 years since Bruno Mars released his last solo album. After the release of “I Just Might,” which was Bruno’s first single for the album, Mars announced that on January 7th of this year a new album was coming along with a new world tour. This announcement caused a lot of excitement for music and Bruno Mars fans. However, “The Romantic” doesn’t live up to the hype.
Bruno Mars
Kevin Hawkins is a MIS major (Management Information Systems) from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he is also a baritone section leader in band. He talked about how much he loves music and how music found him. “I got a lot of my music taste from my mom over the years. She made me try out band just to give it a chance because we both had a love for music, and I never went back.”
Hawkins also talks about the first time he heard the song “Uptown Funk” for the first time. “My mom played Uptown Funk one day for me in the car when I was little and I asked her who made the song and she said Bruno Mars; I knew of Bruno ever since then.”
Hawkins talked about how he became a big Bruno Mars fan after the album “Silk Sonic.” So, when he heard Bruno was coming out with a new album, he was ecstatic.
However, when “The Romantic” first released, Hawkins was initially disappointed. “When I first listened to the album I wasn’t a fan of it. But it’s one of those things where you have to listen to it over and over again to give it a chance. After I gave it a chance, I thought the album was great.”
Hawkins thinks the romantic is a 8.5/10 and he can’t wait for Bruno’s next project.
Kevin Hawkins Doing the Splits On Homecoming 2025
When asked what he expects from Mars in the future, Hawkins said, “I mean I don’t know. Bruno is one of those artists that you can’t really predict. We did not know it was going to take him this long to make a solo album in the first place.”
Bruno has been known to make hit commercial songs and albums but the romantic feels like a set up for maybe something bigger.
With The Romantic only having 9 songs and being number one on the Billboard chart in it’s first week, as a fan looking from the outside I expcted the album to have more substance. To me, it didn’t.
“The Romantic” is a homage to 1970’s soul, disco, and latin music. But, the album doesn’t seem to hit the mark of something you would listen to over and over again. Songs like “On My Soul” and “Cha Cha Cha” are homages to classic soul songs like Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” and The O’Jay’s “Backstabbers” but you will be better off listening to those original songs instead of Mars’s versions.
The O’Jays Backstabbers (1972)
Mars took a similar approach with his collab album “Silk Sonic” with Anderson Pack, but that album offered a different twist to the classic soul songs that our grandfathers and grandmothers grew up on. Bruno tries to do the same thing with “The Romantic,” but it doesn’t feel the same.
There aren’t many songs on “The Romantic” that make you want to listen to it again and again; however, “I Just Might” and “Why You Wanna Fight” are songs that are enjoyable. Those songs felt like Bruno took his time, especially when they both get to the bridge. You can feel the song pick up more and more. For example, when you start to hear the drums pick up and the background singing on the track “Why You Wanna Fight,” you actually start to feel it and get goosebumps. Unfortunately, “The Romantic” doesn’t have enough of that.
Overall Mars takes so much inspiration for “The Romantic” to the point where it doesn’t feel original. Besides two or three songs on the album, the rest of the songs feel unforgettable.
Overall I would give The Romantic a 6/10. The album isn’t terrible by any means but it isn’t memorable enough to give it a higher rating. There are a lot of memorable songs from his past albums but it feels like the album is missing substance.
April 10, 2026 is the first day of Mars’s The Romantic tour and we will see what he does in the future when that tour end.
Anthony Henry
Anthony Henry is a sophomore broadcast journalism major from Oklahoma City and he currently attends Langston University. He likes to do profile stories and cover special events in his community and on campus. He believes his work is important because of the First Amendment. Journalism is the only profession mentioned in the First Amendment and Anthony believes in the rights of the people and is willing to tell their stories. Anthony enjoys music so much; he listens to R&B, Jazz, and Hip-Hop. He also enjoys spending time with friends. Anthony can be reached at anthony.c.henry@langston.edu as well as @the.realtony3 on Instagram.
