Versace on the Floor

"Versace on the Floor"
Single by Bruno Mars
from the album 24K Magic
Released June 12, 2017 (2017-06-12)
Format
Genre R&B
Length 4:21
Label Atlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Shampoo Press & Curl
Bruno Mars singles chronology
"That's What I Like"
(2017)		 "Versace on the Floor"
(2017)		 "Chunky"
(2017)
Music video
"Versace on the Floor" on YouTube

"Versace on the Floor" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his third studio album, 24K Magic (2016). The song was released to Hot AC radio on June 12, 2017, as the album's third single in the United States.[1] The track was originally released by Atlantic Records as a promotional single on November 4, 2016, for digital download and streaming.[2] The song was written by Mars and frequent co-writers Philip Lawrence, Brody Brown and James Fauntleroy, while Shampoo Press & Curl handled the production.[3] It is an R&B slow-paced track about Mars' connection with a woman, whose Versace dress rests on the floor while they enjoy each other's company.[4] On June 27, 2017, French DJ David Guetta released a remix version of the song.

Background

Initially, the song had six versions, as Mars called its original demo a "poolside version", which had a "piña colada vibe" and contained lyrics such as "fly through a storm on a unicorn ... Make love on a mountain, bathe in a fountain."[5] However, Mars and his team remixed the beat in order to avoid the poolside vibe that flowed in the early versions of the track. The resulting version featured the same lyrics but had a "more epic musical track". According to Mars, it was about to be included on the album but "something" was bothering him: "We're painting this picture – both in silk, I'm promising the world. But I'm not singing. This is supposed to be a big ballad on the album, but I'm not giving it to 'em! If we're gonna really, dramatically slow things down, I've got to be singing some shit."[5] Mars and his team rewrote the lyrics and melody. The final version sounded like a "Boyz II Men–ish anthem that climaxes with an indelible hook".[5] In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Mars "says he wanted to re-create the feeling of the R&B he fell in love with as a kid".[5]

Release and production

"Versace on the Floor" was co-written by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Christopher Brody Brown and James Fauntleroy. Its production was handled by the former three under their alias, Shampoo Press & Curl. Greg Phillinganes played the keyboards, while Mars, Fauntleroy, and Lawrence served as the recording's background vocalists. The recording was done and engineered by Charles Moniz with additional engineering assistance by Jacob Dennis at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California. It was mixed at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach by Serban Ghenea, with John Hanes serving as mixing engineer.[6]

"Versace on the Floor" was initially released as the only promotional single taken from 24K Magic, on November 4, 2016 to promote the new album.[7] The song later became the album's official third single in the US and was sent to Hot AC radio stations on June 12, 2017, in the United States by Atlantic Records.[1] A day later, it impacted American contemporary hit radio and rhythmic contemporary stations via Atlantic Records.[8][9]

An edit of the album version was released as the standard radio version in the US, while a more upbeat version produced by David Guetta was released internationally as the standard radio version.

Composition

"Versace on the Floor" is a slow jam.[5][10] The song is performed in the key of D major with a tempo of 87 beats per minute.[11] At the end of the solo, at 3 minutes & 17 seconds into the song, we hear the chord of B-flat major, which brings the remaining of the song into a new key of E-flat major. The song moves in common time, and Mars' vocals span one-and-a-half octaves, from A3 to D5.[12]

Critical reception

Will Robinson of Entertainment Weekly compared the song to "When I Was Your Man" but noticed that "Versace on the Floor" is "less wistful and more romantic" than the Unorthodox Jukebox track.[13] Sasha Geffen of MTV News felt the track was "delightfully smooth" and that it is "powered by a keyboard tone that should instantly give ... flashbacks to eighth-grade slow dances".[14]

Several reviews from GQ found the song to be a "slow-jam throwback" sounding like a song from the 1990s inspired by Boyz II Men, and found its lyrics sexual. They dubbed the song as R&B.[15] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described the song as a "punch of mid-to-late '80s R&B evolution", as well as "dreamy New Edition homage with cool synthesizers forming a cradle for Mr. Mars" and addressed Mars' singing as providing a tender start which later in the song "tweaks the original style, unleashing the more forceful side of his voice to curdle sweetness into hunger."[16] Josh Eells of Rolling Stone felt that the song seemed to draw inspiration from Selena's "Dreaming of You" and Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".[17] Vibe magazine's Desire Thompson felt the lyrics are "seductive" and that the song evokes an "80's nostalgia", comparing the song to the "early sounds" of Jackson.[18] Andrew Unterberger of Billboard magazine noted that Freddie Jackson's 80's single "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" "reverberates throughout Bruno's show-stopping 24K Magic centerpiece".[19] Gray Trust from Billboard found the single to be a "90s-reminsicent R&B ballad".[20]

Music video

The music video for "Versace on the Floor" premiered on August 13, 2017 and features American actress, singer, and dancer Zendaya.[21]

Live performances

Mars performed "Versace on the Floor" during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.[22]

Credits and personnel

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