Lucky Daye believes strongly that Bruno Mars has benefited from the sound he brought to R&B — though he acknowledges that the “24K Magic” singer took the template to new heights.
In a new Genius feature written by Jaelani Turner-Williams, the two-time Grammy winner argued that he and his longtime producer D'Mile are deserving of their credit by The Romantic artist. Daye, who’s also been a songwriter for the likes of Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Ella Mai and more, won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance last year for “That’s You,” which Mars co-wrote.
"I know I've [collaborated with] Victoria Monét first. I had RAYE first,” Daye explained to Genius, mentioning the openers on Mars’ The Romantic Tour. “I know I had all these people first. And I know Bruno Mars went and did everything I did on another level," Daye said.
He continued, "I love and respect Bruno. From my perspective — I've even talked to D'Mile about it — it feels like everything that I did with [him], Bruno's doing. Like I said, it's my era of being loud, and I'm never going to keep anything inside at this point."
D’Mile, who’s an executive producer on Daye’s last four albums, including 2024’s Algorithm, has also produced for Mars within the last five years, including his 2021 collaborative project with Anderson .Paak, titled An Evening With Silk Sonic. Daye’s debut album, Painted, was released in 2019.
Elsewhere in the interview, the New Orleans native said that he “opened a path for R&B to be as big as it is right now,” also mentioning H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar.
“Now you’ve got thousands of R&B people that’s not even Black. But it works,” Daye continued. “It works because as soon as they see something going good, what happens? Everybody hops on board. They want a piece. It’s like gold. I know I pitched my vocals first. I know I brought real instruments back to R&B. Once they got it, I could move on.”
Daye, however, has spoken warmly about Mars in the past. In a 2024 Variety interview, Daye called Mars “a genius” when recounting their collaboration on “That’s You.” "I always looked up to Bruno,” he continued. “Him coming with the idea trying to mimic my voice was very endearing, and I didn’t want to let him down.”
