Ronson’s bringing back the funk with his new single “Uptown Funk” off of his upcoming album.
Yesterday Mark Ronson released his first single off of his upcoming album “Uptown Special”, set to drop January 27, 2015. “Uptown Funk”, co-written and co-produced by Bruno Mars, was first mentioned on twitter and will be released through RCA Records. Ronson will be revealing another track off “Uptown Special” on November 22 during his inaugural Saturday Night Live appearance.
“Uptown Special” is unlike any of Ronson’s Prior work in that it pays homage to his musical roots as a club DJ. The album is reminiscent of the earlier decades of hip-hop, funk, soul and R&B and reminds us of that scratchy vinyl aesthetic. This is what Ronson had to say about his DJing days in New York City:
No matter how my taste in music and DJ-ing veers over the years, I always find myself coming back to that music I would play out in hip-hop clubs in NY in the late 90s/early 2000s”, Ronson elaborates. “Biggie, Chaka Khan, Amerie, Boz Scaggs, Missy, Earth Wind & Fire, N.O.R.E….Those songs would set alight the dance floor. The NY club scene was filled with girls, boys, dancers, drug dealers, rappers, models and skateboarders who came mostly for one reason: to dance. And regardless of genre or era, if the song was good – if it had dope drums, if it had soul to it – they danced. Before smart phones, bottle service and smoking bans, people came to the club, found their spot and stayed all night, absorbed in the music. With Uptown Special I set out to capture the feeling I remember from those New York nights.
“Uptown Special” is Ronson’s fourth album, which he created over the course of 18 months while traveling through London, Memphis, Los Angeles and New York City. Many of the tracks, except for “Uptown Funk” , were written by Ronson’s favorite living author, Pulitzer prize-winning American author Michael Chabon. Other collaborative efforts featured on the album include the vocal stylings of Kevin Parker and Andrew Wyatt, as well as beats by Emile Haynie, James Ford, Hudson Mohawke and DJ Zinc. Not to mention Ronson’s group of Brooklyn based musicians including Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon and Tommy Brenneck. This album was set into motion after Ronson and Bhasker set out on a quest to find a talented, young female vocalist, who they found in Jackson, MI. They discovered 23-year old Keyone Starr and immediately swept her away to start recording tracks at Royal Studios in Memphis, Starr is even featured as lead vocals on three tracks off of “Uptown Special”.
Check out the link below to stream “Uptown Funk”