Music Review: Travie McCoy & Bruno Mars "Billionaire"

Travie McCoy & Bruno Mars

Billionaire

Album: Lazarus

Year: 2010

         Travie McCoy would help the world if he were  rich in the self-serving             “Billionaire.”

           An idealistic guitar opens the single, setting a rosy tone.  In the extended chorus, sung by Bruno Mars, he says he wants a garage full of luxury cars, a couple mansions all over the world and a career as a media mogul. He’ll be featured every year in Forbes’ list of wealthiest celebrities. He’ll be touring the world, his name on the marquee of every stadium. (“I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad/Buy all of the things I never had/I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine/Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen/Oh everytime I close my eyes I see my name in shining lights/Yeah a different city every night oh I swear the world better prepare for when I'ma billionaire.”)

               He says he would be the male Oprah with a talk show millions watch every day. His show would be known for his in-depth interviews and charitable contributions to his viewers. He would adopt a kid from every impoverished country and then donate whatever luxury car he has grown tired of driving. He’ll  be a regular for the Make-A-Wish foundation, making every appearance at a hospital when needed. He would visit parts of the United States that have been hit hard by destructive weather. His first place would be New Orleans and try to help the community. (“Yeah I would have a show like Oprah I would be the host of/Everyday Christmas give Travie a wish list/I'd probably pull an Angelina and Brad Pitt and adopt a bunch of babies that ain't never had shit/Give away a few Mercedes like here lady have this/And last but not least grant somebody their last wish/Been a couple months that I’ve been single so you can call me Travie Claus minus the ho ho/Aha get it/I'd probably visit where Katrina hit and damn sure do alot more than FEMA did/Yeah can't forget about me stupid/Everywhere I go I'mma have my own theme music.”)

             An edited chorus is sung by Mars. (“Oh everytime I close my eyes I see my name in shining lights/Yeah a different city every night oh I swear the world better prepare for when I'ma billionaire/When I'ma billionaire.”)

            He’ll be best friends with President of the United States and be his biggest campaign contributor. He’ll tell the press that the President is a classy man but has a mean jump shot. He’ll have so much money, he’ll throw it away. Times are hard for a lot of people. People will find the money and keep it. It’ll be rent money or help pay any outstanding bills. He would be doing what a lot people wish they could do.  (“I be playing basketball with the president/Dunking on his delegates/Then I compliment on his political etiquette/Toss a couple milli in the air just for the heck of it/But keep the fives, twentys, tens, and bens completely separate/And yeah I’ll be in a whole new tax bracket/We in recession but let me take a crack at it/I'll probably take whatevers left and just split it up/So everybody that I love can have a couple bucks/And not a single tummy around me would know what hungry was/Eating good sleeping soundly/I know we all have a similar dream/Go in your pocket pull out your wallet/And put it in the air and sing.”)

           A variation of the extended chorus is sung. (“I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad…when I'ma billionaire/I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad.”)

                 Mars’ pining vocals just want something better. Strip malls around his neighborhood are empty. There are several For Sale signs up that he sees when he drives home. He’s dreaming big but it’s all he has. Despite the materialism mentioned, he still comes across as honest and realistic.

                 McCoy’s contrived rap reads like a publicist’s wish list to improve a client’s reputation .None of it seems sincere. The benefit is mainly him as he’s thought of a hero the people. There’s the sense that somewhere the skeletons are dangling, waiting to be snatched by someone who got screwed over by one his good deeds.

                  The  swinish “Billionaire” wants to make itself look good.