Como Que Peter Hernández Won’t Make You Sound Famous
From the textmex obsessed imagination of Daphne Strassmann
H.N.P.D. (Hispanic Name Projection Disease)
In the April issue of GQ magazine, Bruno Mars a.k.a. Peter Hernández, explains juicy bits, like a tweet to his fans about the object of his song: ‘Locked Out of Heaven‘ *(“As in da pussay leche”) and the origin of his birth-given name.He dealt with the obligatory expectations of the industry by changing his name, instead of caving in to singing Latin tunes -which is what any Hernandez does- and because he was told that idols like Enrique Iglesias were so “hot” at the time. So enter the last name Mars, “perhaps figuring that the best way to avoid being stereotyped by race is to sound as though you come from a different planet altogether…”
Indeed.
How sad though that we still have to walk away from a birth-right to gain acceptance in the mainstream. Bruno Mars’ own melting pot is filled with rich worldly ingredients of the backgrounds of his parents: “Puerto Rican Jewish percussionist from Brooklyn and a singer and dancer from the Philippines who met in Hawaii’. Wow. I want some of that but I don’t get it from Hernandez and I certainly don’t get it form Mars.
Daphne Strassmann: I am a Non-Fiction writer in Boston suffering from severe technology addiction. I hold an MFA in Creative Writing. I am an adjunct professor and the co-Director of the Women’s Center of Lesley University. I’m hard at work pitching a memoir.
