He’s getting the stretch and serving up the scampi. But who IS the mysterious Julio Bruno Mars is singing about? A relative? A friend? A secret lover? Her Campus investigates who the mysterious Julio character is.
We only know two things about Julio; he drives Bruno Mars’ limo and feeds him shrimp. We can infer that Julio is his butler. However, since Bruno likes to keep us guessing, I can tell you that Julio is NOT the Alfred to his Bruce Wayne or the Geoffrey to his Will Smith.
So where was I to begin with this investigation?
Julio the Musical Muse
I had “Uptown Funk” and “That’s What I Like” on repeat trying to find subliminal messages in the songs.
“Uptown Funk”
Julio get the stretch!
Julio is Bruno Mars’ chauffeur.
Ride to Harlem, Hollywood, Jackson, Mississippi.
Julio is from one of these towns. I think Hollywood because Bruno resides in Los Angeles. However, he could also be from Harlem. Spanish Harlem to be exact. His name is Julio and he is Puerto Rican.
Well it’s Saturday night and we in the spot.
As you can tell, Bruno and the Hooligans are in the spot on a Saturday night. Want to know who else? Julio. Julio is in the spot because how else are Bruno and the Hooligans going to be in the spot on a Saturday night? They needed a limo to get there.
“That’s What I Like”
I’ll rent a beach house in Miami wake up with no jammies. Lobster tail for dinner. Julio serve that scampi.
Does Julio wake up with no jammies too? Are they eating naked? I have a lot of questions.
Jump in the cadillac girl lets put some miles on it.
Julio better pull up the partition please.
I’m talking trips to Puerto Rico say the word and we go.
Bruno is taking his girl to Puerto Rico. Julio is from Puerto Rico and is going to third wheel with Bruno and his girl in his native land.
Julio the Puerto Rican, third wheeling, chauffeur
After deeply looking into the lyrics we can see that Julio is driving Bruno to places, traveling, being in the spot on a Saturday night, and third wheeling. This shows that Julio is Bruno’s friend and trusted confidant. Any Hooligan can easily connect the dots to who Bruno’s friend and confidant is. This leads us to the next piece of information on this investigation. Julio is Bruno’s songwriting partner, Philip Lawrence.
Phil AKA Bruno’s BFF
Let’s be honest. Phil and Bruno are the most iconic duo in the music business. Can you name another? I’ll wait. If you don’t know who Phil is, he’s the “oh my god this is great” guy from The Lazy Song music video. He’s Bruno’s right hand man and can be seen next to him at every concert singing back up. #Phruno. Does he show the qualities of being Julio? Let’s investigate.
“24K” Music Video
Well well well, it looks like we have a Phil driving Bruno around the Strip in Las Vegas. Phil is driving a cadillac. Pause the video at 0:46 to be mind blown.
“Julio” Translated
The name Julio comes from the Roman name Julius. However, Julio translated into English is July. Phil was born in July. Coincidence? I think not. (I also saw Bruno in concert in July. No, I am not Julio.)
Is Phil “Julio?”
At this point, I believed that Phil was Julio. Both men are close to Bruno. I mean Julio could practically be one of Bruno’s band members. (Hooli-o?) However, I still wasn’t convinced. It was now time for social media to do its work. I went to Bruno Mars’ social media to look for signs of this mysterious Julio and ended up with some satisfying yet disappointing information.
#AskTheDragon
Bruno Mars is the worst when it comes to social media. It’s not that he’s not social, he doesn’t know how it works. However, he does know how to change his Twitter bio. In 2015, his Twitter bio read, “Julio!!! Get The Stretch!!!!” because he was promoting Uptown Funk. This is where the rise of asking who Julio is began. (The following screenshots are provided from Quora and Bruno Mars’ Twitter.)
Bruno’s Twitter Page
A tweet from Bruno Mars is rare, however, a reply from the Dragon himself is rarer than a four leaf clover. This was his reply to a lucky fan’s tweet.
Dead. Julio is dead. The man, the myth, the legend, was gone the whole time. Fans were heartbroken.
A moment for silence for Julio. *Silence* Thank you. Then, another tweet came along about the gone but not forgotten Julio.
Whoa. That got a little dark. However, this wasn’t the last of the “Who is Julio?” saga.
Interview with Capital FM
In June, Bruno made an appearance at Capital FM’s Summertime Ball in London. Before the show, he arrived at the radio station’s studio for an interview. Of course, the topic of who Julio is was brought up.
Finding Julio
Of course in a Bruno Mars-esque fashion, he somewhat avoids the question. Nice to see that Julio is still alive, but will we ever find out who he exactly is and and what he looks like? Probably not. It’s best for us to keep the concept of Julio a mystery. It’s what Bruno wants. Maybe Julio is actually Bruno’s butler. Maybe it’s Phil. Maybe it’s a family member. Everyone has a Julio in their life; even you. For now, let’s leave the investigating to TMZ.