Supergroup Silk Sonic, whose sound is inspired by the soul music of the 1970s, gave a rousing performance during Sunday night’s airing of the 2021 Soul Train Awards.
The duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, performed “Fly as Me” early in the broadcast and returned later to perform “Smokin Out the Window.”
During “Fly as Me,” they donned white jackets and black pants, adding seductive choreography to their performance in front of an audience of ’70s-inspired dancers.
The set — which recreated the iconic Soul Train television show surroundings — even featured the memorable jumble board. Vulture reports that it’s been previously duplicated for the first Charlie’s Angels movie, as well as the video for “Walk It, Talk It,” by Migos featuring Drake.
Mars and .Paak released their debut album An Evening with Silk Sonic earlier this month. They are making the rounds on the awards-show circuit, having performed at The American Music Awards last week.
Silk Sonic evolved as a group after .Paak opened for Mars on the European leg of his 24K Magic World Tour. According to Rolling Stone, the two friends formed the group as a joke on the road. After the success of their first single, “Leave the Door Open,” they began to take things a little more seriously.
“That song was like our mission statement,” .Paak says. “It’s the intro to the book, to set the tone and let you know the sound. There’s different kinds of waves, but the whole album is wrapped around that.”
In the interview, the two acknowledged how they differ in the way they construct music, with .Paak saying of Mars that he’s like a “math professor. He’s thinking about every aspect of the song, the math of it all. It’s deeper than just talking slick, or good drums, or anything like that — it’s ‘What are we talking about, what are we trying to say, what does this look like, and how are we gonna kill ’em on the hook?’ ”
Of himself, .Paak said he’s more “free form,” adding he was “dying to get in with Bruno and study how he does things.”
The article notes that the two men have a close friendship and chemistry that translates into their music.
“It’s just that we feel our purpose is this. We need to light up a stage, put the fear of God in anyone performing before us or after us, and bring so much joy to the people we’re in front of and the people listening,” Mars said. “Especially in times like the time we’re in right now.”
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