Do you sometimes come across new albums that you just can’t stop listening to? Well, I do, and I want to talk about mine! This is Carlijn’s On Repeat!

Cool vibe

Bruno Mars dropped the new version of Finesse when 2018 had only just begun. Bruno gave Cardi B the honour of being a featured artist on the brand new remix. Can I just tell you guys how much I love the music video? It has the COOLEST vibe and I don’t think I’ve ever watched the same music video on repeat so many times. Check it out below!

If you’re thinking “hey, this sounds familiar!”, you’re absolutely right! The clip is an homage to the nineties sketch ‘In Living Color’. It’s worth checking out and comparing the two!

The original version of Finesse can be heard on Mars’ third studio album 24K Magic, which was released in November 2016. When I went to his concert at the Ziggo Dome this past May, he chose this as his opener; I can’t think of a better track to open the show with. The nineties vibe and Bruno’s moves made the evening unforgettable from the get-go.

But enough about the video clip and the nineties vibes which I love: Time to get into the lyrics.

Poppin’ rubber bands

Cardi B starts the song off with a funky rap verse. Before she made her name as a rapper, she worked as a stripper in the Bronx. You hear about it often in her rhymes, and Finesse (Remix) is no exception. Even though she used to earn her dollar bills in the strip club, she’s now earning huge money rapping:

I went from dollar bills, now we poppin’ rubber bands (ha)
Bruno sang to me, while I do my money dance like ayy

‘Rubber bands’ is a reference to the elastics needed to keep huge wads of cash together. Go Cardi!

The most interesting thing about Cardi B’s contribution to Finesse (Remix) is that it changes the meaning of the song. In the original, Bruno sings about how good he and his fling look together. On the remix, Cardi raps about how fame and success look to her.

Flexing’ on the ‘Gram like ayy
Hit the Lil’ Jon, okay (okay), okay (okay)
Oh yeah, we drippin in finesse and getting paid ow

Smooth

Now it’s time for the one and only Bruno to take over.

When I’m walkin’ with you
I watch the whole room change
Baby, that’s what you do

In this track, Bruno sings about how happy he is that such a gorgeous woman is at his side as his bae. This lady doesn’t only impress him, but everyone around her.

We out here drippin’ in finesse
It don’t make no sense
Out here drippin’ in finesse
You know it, you know it
Finesse (Remix) – Bruno Mars feat. Cardi B

If you’re wondering what the Hawaiian singer-songwriter actually means by ‘Finesse’, we can answer that for you in short. It means being smooth as hell, without even realizing how smooth you are! It’s comes as second nature to you! A fan asked him for an exact definition and got this answer:

‘’If you don’t know, I’m afraid you’ll never know.’’ Understood, Bruno!

This remix is a massive hit already. That’s evident by the sheer numbers it’s been streamed in the last two weeks alone, a whopping 30 million times on Spotify! I wonder what percentage of that comes from my on repeats

Want to read more articles like this?

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– Finesse is written by Christopher Steven Brown / Bruno Mars / Jeremy Reeves / Jonathan Yip / James Edward II Fauntleroy / Philip Lawrence / Ray Charles II McCullough / Ray Romulus © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management, 2016.