If there’s anyone perfect for setting the vibes at an awards event, it’s Silk Sonic. Today (April 3), the duo consisting of Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars served as the opening act for this year’s Grammys, immediately raising the bars for a telecast that will also see live performances from Billie Eilish, BTS, H.E.R., J Balvin, Lil Nas X, and more.

.Paak and Mars released their highly anticipated body of work, An Evening with Silk Sonic, back in November. That project saw nine tracks and added contributions from Thundercat, D’Mile and Bootsy Collins, the latter of whom acted as the album’s narrator. In addition to receiving universal acclaim (especially in regards to singles like “Smokin Out The Window” and “Leave The Door Open”), An Evening with Silk Sonic also peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 thanks to 104,000 album equivalent units sold during its first week of release. The project also crossed the billion streams mark before 2022 arrived.

It’s been about three years since .Paak released his fourth studio LP Ventura, an 11-song offering with collaborations alongside André 3000, Smokey Robinson, Lalah Hathaway, Jazmine Sullivan, Sonyae Elise, Brandy, and the late Nate Dogg. Meanwhile, Mars liberated his third full-length body of work 24K Magic in 2016.

Speaking with Ebro Darden for Apple Music, .Paak spoke on what it was like collaborating with Mars for the aforementioned release:

“It was big for me. Like I was just trying to take it all in, live in the moment, like being in the studio with them … I’ve done collabs with everybody. … And there’s a cheat code, you know what I’m saying? Everybody told me the cheat code is linking up with this dude. Get Bruno on your side, and yeah, it’s dope.”

If you missed it, you can check out Silk Sonic‘s full performance over at the Grammys’ official website.