Benny Blanco | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Benjamin Joseph Levin |
Born | Reston, Virginia, U.S. | March 8, 1988
Genres | Pop [1] |
Occupations |
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Discography | Benny Blanco production discography |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels |
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Formerly of | |
Website | benny-blanco |
Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. [2] He also won the BMI Songwriter of the Year Award five non-consecutive times, and won the 2017 iHeartRadio Producer of the Year Award.
Levin was initially mentored by songwriter and producer Dr. Luke, who signed Levin to his production company Kasz Money Productions. Under his tutelage, Levin co-produced and co-wrote a multitude of hit singles in the late 2000s and thereafter. Levin's work has led to sales of over 500 million album-equivalent units worldwide for artists including Ed Sheeran, BTS, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Christina Aguilera, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Sia, The Weeknd, Kanye West, Avicii, Selena Gomez, Adam Lambert, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, OneRepublic, Wiz Khalifa, J Balvin, Kali Uchis, Juice Wrld and SZA.
In July 2018, Levin released his debut single as a lead artist, "Eastside" (with Halsey and Khalid). [3] The song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100—marking his 27th top-ten song as a writer, a sum which includes seven number one singles on the chart—while peaking the charts in four countries, and reaching the top ten in several others. [4] It was followed by the singles "I Found You" (with Calvin Harris), "Better to Lie" (with Jesse and Swae Lee), "Roses" (with Brendon Urie and Juice Wrld), and "Graduation" (with Juice Wrld). His debut studio album, Friends Keep Secrets was released in December of that year to modest success. [5] A deluxe issue of the album was released in March 2021, a date which coincided with the original receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [6]
Levin has founded two labels as imprints of Interscope Records—Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets—in 2014, through both of which he has signed artists including Tory Lanez, Jessie Ware, and Cashmere Cat, among others. [7]
Benny Blanco was born Benjamin Joseph Levin in Reston, Virginia, [8] and has an older brother. [9] He is Jewish. [9] [10] He began producing hip-hop instrumentals in his bedroom and recording his own vocals on top of them. His first serious exposure to music came in 1994, when he was six years old with Nas's "The World Is Yours" and All-4-One's "I Swear" on cassette tapes, which influenced his early productions. [11] [12] After early experiments with beat making and recording himself on his boombox, Blanco's rapping earned the attention of The Source and executives at Columbia Records. He attended Camp Airy for many years of his childhood in Thurmont, Maryland, where he would routinely perform and host a radio show under the name "Ebba Ebba". Blanco eventually secured an apprenticeship with producer Disco D after multiple trips to New York City from his home in Virginia to meet with labels and producers. [12]
Blanco was mentored for several years by songwriter and producer Dr. Luke, who signed Blanco to his production company Kasz Money Productions. [13] While under Dr. Luke's tutelage, Blanco co-produced and co-wrote many songs, including hits such as Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Kesha's "TiK ToK", and Taio Cruz's "Dynamite".
In 2008, he took part in writing and producing Britney Spears' "Circus" (with Dr. Luke, and Claude Kelly). The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on American pop radio and is her second-best-selling digital song in the United States, having sold over 3.2 million downloads as of July 2016. [14] On a global scale, "Circus" was one of the top 10 best-selling songs of 2009 with 5.5 million digital copies sold that year across the world, according to the IFPI. [15]
In 2011, Blanco wrote and produced his first charting hits without Dr. Luke, among them Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger", Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts" and 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me". The same year, Blanco went on to work on Maroon 5's Platinum-selling album Overexposed and its lead single "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa. [16]
On June 13, 2013, Blanco was presented with the Hal David Starlight Award at the 44th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, an honor awarded to young artists who have already made an impression on the music industry. [17] In his acceptance speech, he joked, "They picked the wrong person, I'm in a room with people I should probably be serving food to." [18]
In the years since, Blanco has amassed 29 total number-one songs and is recognized for his achievements with artists including BTS, Gracie Abrams, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Lana Del Rey, Miguel, Halsey, and Camila Cabello.
Blanco was named Producer of the Year at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards. [19]
In 2007, Blanco teamed up with Baltimore rappers Spank Rock to release Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are...Bangers & Cash , a collaborative EP for both artists based on 2 Live Crew samples that caught the attention of many in the industry and sparked connections to future collaborators Amanda Blank and Santigold. The EP received acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and more.
In July 2018, Blanco released his debut song as a standalone solo artist, "Eastside" featuring Halsey and Khalid, on his own label Friends Keep Secrets with Interscope Records. The song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, and was also a global success, topping the charts in New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and peaking within the top ten of the charts in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway. [20] Later in 2018, he released his second, third, and fourth singles: "I Found You" with Calvin Harris, "Better to Lie" with Jesse and Swae Lee, and "Roses" with Juice Wrld featuring Brendon Urie, respectively. [21] His debut album Friends Keep Secrets was released on December 7, 2018. [22]
In January 2019, Blanco released "I Found You / Nilda's Story" with Calvin Harris and Miguel in conjunction with the launch of The While They Wait Fund to benefit asylum seekers in the United States, an initiative by Brooklyn Defender Services, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and American Civil Liberties Union. [23] [24] The song debuted with a video directed by Jake Schreier highlighting the story of one Honduran woman, Nilda, and her two-year-old son Keyden. [25]
In February 2019, Blanco released "I Can't Get Enough" with Tainy, Selena Gomez, and J Balvin. On August 30, 2019, Blanco released a song with Juice Wrld called "Graduation", their second collaboration after "Roses". [26]
In October 2020, Blanco released his first artist collaboration with Justin Bieber titled "Lonely". [27] The second and third singles ("Real Shit" with Juice Wrld [28] and "Unlearn" with Gracie Abrams [29] ) followed in December 2020 and March 2021, respectively.
A deluxe version of his album Friends Keep Secrets 2 was released on March 26, 2021, and was certified RIAA platinum on the day of release. [6]
On August 5, 2022, Blanco released his first artist collaboration with BTS members Jin, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook as well as Snoop Dogg titled "Bad Decisions".
On December 16, 2023, Juice Wrld released "Lace It" with Eminem and Blanco.
On March 9, 2020, Blanco and acclaimed chef Matty Matheson debuted a new collaborative cooking show, Matty and Benny Eat Out America, on Blanco's YouTube channel. The first episode featured a behind-the-scenes visit to fellow YouTuber Kenny Beats's show The Cave where Blanco teaches Matheson to rap. Additional episodes included Lil Dicky, Mason Ramsey, Diplo, Laird Hamilton and more. [30]
On April 16, 2020, Blanco made his TV debut playing a fictionalized version of himself on the first and second seasons of the FXX series Dave with Lil Dicky. [31]
On March 31, 2021, Blanco and chef Matty Matheson debuted a new cooking show on Blanco's YouTube channel, called Stupid F*cking Cooking Show.
Blanco's first book, OPEN WIDE: A Cookbook for Friends, [32] was published on April 30, 2024 by Dey Street Books/Harper Collins. Co-authored with Jess Damuck, OPEN WIDE debuted on best seller lists from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and USA TODAY, sitting on The New York Times list for two weeks at publication. The book is a guide to entertaining and features benny's own recipes as well as dishes and advice from friends including Matty Matheson, Lil Dicky, Mike Solomonov, Mario Carbone, Eric André and more.
In 2014, Blanco founded two imprint labels under Interscope, Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets. The former label includes the following artists, many of whom were initially signed with the former, which served as its predecessor. [33] [34]
Blanco has been in a relationship with Selena Gomez since 2023. [41] [42]
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [43] | AUS [44] | CAN [45] | IRE [46] | NOR [47] | |||
Friends Keep Secrets |
| 41 | 39 | 21 | 74 | 35 |
Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
IRE [46] | ||
Friends Keep Secrets 2 |
| 97 |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [50] | AUS [51] | CAN [52] | DEN [53] | GER [54] | IRE [46] | NOR [47] | NZ [55] | SWE [56] | UK [57] | |||||
"Eastside" (with Halsey and Khalid) | 2018 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | Friends Keep Secrets | ||
"I Found You" (with Calvin Harris) | — | 54 | 95 | — | — | 24 | — | — [upper-alpha 1] | 86 | 29 |
| |||
"Better to Lie" (with Jesse and Swae Lee) | — | — | — | — | — | 88 | — | — [upper-alpha 2] | — [upper-alpha 3] | — | ||||
"Roses" (with Juice Wrld featuring Brendon Urie) | 85 | — | 58 | — | — | 81 | 38 | — [upper-alpha 4] | — [upper-alpha 5] | — | ||||
"I Found You / Nilda's Story" (with Calvin Harris and Miguel) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
"I Can't Get Enough" (with Tainy, Selena Gomez and J Balvin) | 66 | 43 | 33 | — | 53 | 20 | — | — [upper-alpha 6] | 53 | 42 | ||||
"Graduation" (with Juice Wrld) | — [upper-alpha 7] | — | 90 | — | — | 56 | — | — [upper-alpha 8] | — | 88 | Friends Keep Secrets 2 | |||
"Lonely" (with Justin Bieber) | 2020 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 17 | Justice and Friends Keep Secrets 2 | ||
"Real Shit" (with Juice Wrld) | 72 | 52 | 52 | — | — | 57 | — | — [upper-alpha 9] | — [upper-alpha 10] | 75 | Friends Keep Secrets 2 | |||
"You" (with Marshmello and Vance Joy) [78] | 2021 | — | 55 | 62 | — | — | 77 | — | — [upper-alpha 11] | 38 | — | |||
"Unlearn" (with Gracie Abrams) [80] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"Bad Decisions" (with BTS and Snoop Dogg) | 2022 | 10 | 31 [81] | 31 | — | 89 | 63 [82] | — | — [upper-alpha 12] | — [upper-alpha 13] | 53 |
| Non-album single | |
"Lace It" (with Juice Wrld and Eminem) | 2023 | 85 | — | 55 | — | — | — | — | — [upper-alpha 14] | — | 95 | The Party Never Ends | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Blanco has written and produced songs for artists including Ed Sheeran ("Don't" and "Castle on the Hill"), Justin Bieber ("Love Yourself"), Major Lazer ("Cold Water"), Maroon 5 ("Moves Like Jagger", "Payphone", "Maps", "Animals", "Don't Wanna Know"), Katy Perry ("Teenage Dream", "California Gurls"), Rihanna ("Diamonds"), Kesha ("TiK ToK"), Taio Cruz ("Dynamite"), Wiz Khalifa ("Work Hard, Play Hard"), Gym Class Heroes ("Stereo Hearts"), Lil Dicky ("Freaky Friday"), Tory Lanez ("Luv"). [86]
Award ceremony | Year | Nominee(s)/work(s) | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BMI Awards | 2011 | benny blanco | Pop Songwriter of the Year | Won | |
2012 | Won | ||||
"Moves like Jagger" ( Maroon 5 ) | Song of the Year | Won | |||
benny blanco | R&B/ Hip Hop Songwriter of the Year | Won | |||
benny blanco | Pop Songwriter of the Year | Won | |||
2013 | benny blanco | Urban Songwriter of the Year | Won | [87] | |
2014 | Pop Songwriter of the Year | Won | |||
2024 | benny blanco | Presidents Award | Won | ||
Clio Awards | 2019 | "I Found You / Nilda's Story" (Benny Blanco, Calvin Harris, and Miguel ) | Music Videos | Gold | [88] |
Direction | Gold | ||||
Golden Globe Awards | 2017 | "Faith" ( Stevie Wonder featuring Ariana Grande ) | Best Original Song | Nominated | |
Grammy Awards | 2011 | Teenage Dream | Album of the Year | Nominated | [89] |
2013 | "Heart Attack" | Best R&B Song | Nominated | ||
2015 | x | Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
2017 | Purpose | Nominated | |||
"Love Yourself" | Song of the Year | Nominated | |||
"Luv" | Best R&B Song | Nominated | |||
Benny Blanco | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | Nominated | |||
2018 | "Issues" | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
2022 | "Lonely" | Best Pop Duo/Group Performance | Nominated | ||
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) | Album of the Year | Nominated | |||
iHeartRadio Music Awards | 2017 | "Love Yourself" ( Justin Bieber ) | Best Lyrics | Won | [90] |
Benny Blanco | Producer of the Year | Won | |||
2018 | Nominated | [91] | |||
iHeartRadio Titanium Award | 2019 | "Eastside" (with Khalid & Halsey) | 1 Billion Total Audience Spins on iHeartRadio Stations | Won | |
Ivor Novello Awards | 2018 | "Castle on the Hill" ( Ed Sheeran ) | PRS for Most Performed Work | Nominated | [92] |
Songwriters Hall of Fame | 2013 | Benny Blanco | Hal David Starlight Award | Won | [93] |
Spotify Secret Genius Awards | 2018 | Secret Genius: Pop | Won | [94] |
Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Dave | Actor and Producer | |
2021 | Juice Wrld: Into the Abyss | Himself | [95] |
The discography of Canadian singer Justin Bieber consists of six studio albums, three remix albums, three compilation albums, two extended plays, 76 singles, and 10 promotional singles. Bieber has attained eight number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 and eight number-one albums on the US Billboard 200 charts. As of June 2019, Bieber has sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), he has sold 24 million albums and 121 million digital singles units as a lead artist, in the United States. Bieber was named the "Greatest Pop Star of 2016" by Billboard. He was also named the Billboard Year-End Top Male Artist for 2016 and placed number seven on the magazine's Decade-End Top Artists Chart for the 2010s.
American singer and songwriter Halsey has released four studio albums, two live albums, 11 extended plays, 28 singles, 10 promotional singles, and 36 music videos. After being signed to Astralwerks, she released her debut EP Room 93 on October 27, 2014, and then toured with larger acts to promote it and her upcoming album. Since her debut, Halsey has released nine Gold, 11 Platinum, seven Multiplatinum, and one Diamond single in the United States alone.
American actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld has released two extended plays, twenty singles, three promotional singles and has made other album appearances. Steinfeld gained recognition for her music after performing "Flashlight" in Pitch Perfect 2 (2015).
The American music producer and DJ Marshmello has released five studio albums, four extended plays, forty-five singles, nine other charted songs, sixteen remixes, forty-three music videos and seven production-credited songs. Marshmello's debut studio album Joytime was released through his Joytime Collective record label on January 8, 2016. Despite failing to debut on the Billboard 200, the album peaked on three Billboard charts: Dance/Electronic Albums, Top Heatseekers and Independent Albums, at number five, fourteen and forty-one, respectively.
The discography of American singer-songwriter Khalid consists of three studio albums, one mixtape, one extended play, 44 singles, and nine promotional singles.
American rapper Eminem has released 59 singles as a lead artist and 15 promotional singles. He has also featured in 21 singles as a guest artist, while entering the charts with over 100 additional songs.
Jarad Anthony Higgins, known professionally as Juice Wrld, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Despite his career lasting for four years, he emerged as a leading figure in the emo rap and SoundCloud rap genres, which garnered mainstream attention during the mid-to-late 2010s. His stage name, which he said represents "taking over the world", was derived from the crime thriller film Juice (1992).
"All Girls Are the Same" is the debut single by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was officially released as the lead single from his debut studio album, Goodbye & Good Riddance on April 13, 2018, after its music video premiered in February. Produced by Nick Mira, the song has amassed more than one billion streams on Spotify. It was his second song to achieve this, after "Lucid Dreams" reached the one billion stream milestone in December 2019. The song debuted at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 41.
Goodbye & Good Riddance is the debut studio album by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was released on May 23, 2018, by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records. Production was primarily handled by Nick Mira alongside several other record producers, including Benny Blanco, Cardo, CBMix, Don Rob, Dre Moon, Ghost Loft, and Mitch Mula.
"Lucid Dreams" (formerly "Lucid Dreams (Forget Me)") is a song by American rapper Juice WRLD. It was officially released by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records on May 4, 2018, after previously being released on SoundCloud in June 2017. The song was produced by Nick Mira and debuted at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 2 on the chart. The song has over 2.3 billion streams on Spotify, being one of the most-streamed songs on the platform. As of August 2024, the music video has over one billion views on YouTube. In February 2022 the song was certified Diamond by RIAA for selling over 10 million units in the U.S.
"Eastside" is a song by American record producer Benny Blanco and American singers Halsey and Khalid. The song was released on July 12, 2018, as Blanco's debut single.
American rapper Juice Wrld released four studio albums, nine extended plays, two mixtapes, 35 singles, and one promotional single. Two of the albums were released posthumously.
The discography of American rapper and singer Trippie Redd consists of five studio albums, two deluxe albums, six mixtapes, eight extended plays and 31 singles.
American R&B singer 6lack has released three studio albums, one extended play, and 29 singles. His released his debut studio album, Free 6lack in November 2016, which featured the single "Prblms". In September 2018, 6lack released his second album, East Atlanta Love Letter, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. His third album, Since I Have a Lover, was released on March 24, 2023.
"Roses" is a song by American producer Benny Blanco and rapper Juice Wrld featuring singer Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco. It debuted on Zane Lowe's show World Record on Beats 1 the same day as the single's release, December 5, 2018. Rock Sound likened its announcement to an "ambitious crossover event".
"Graduation" is a song by American music producer and DJ Benny Blanco and American rapper Juice Wrld. The song is based on Vitamin C's 2000 hit "Graduation ".
The discography of Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi consists of one studio album, one mixtape, one extended play (EP), 29 singles, one promotional single, and 35 music videos. In 2018, Laroi independently released his first EP, 14 with a Dream, through SoundCloud and YouTube. He signed a joint deal with Grade A Productions and Columbia Records the next year before making his major label debut with the single "Let Her Go". Laroi built on the success of the song with other singles in early 2020, such as the US platinum-certified "Diva", which features Lil Tecca, and viral TikTok hit, "Addison Rae".
"Life's a Mess" is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld and American singer Halsey. It was released on July 6, 2020, through Grade A Productions under exclusive license to Interscope Records as the third single for the former's posthumous studio album, Legends Never Die, and was later included on Halsey's Collabs EP that dropped 3 weeks after. It was released the same day that Juice Wrld's estate announced the album and the release date of it. This marks the second collaboration between the two artists, following the remix of Halsey's chart-topping single "Without Me".
American drill rapper Pop Smoke has released two studio albums, two mixtapes, three extended plays, nineteen music videos, twenty-eight singles, and three promotional singles. Pop Smoke began his music career in 2018 when visiting a Brooklyn recording studio with fellow rapper Jay Gwuapo. After Gwuapo got inebriated on drugs and fell asleep, Pop Smoke went into a booth to try rapping for the first time. He used a beat he got from English producer 808Melo and used American rapper Sheff G's song "Panic Part 3". He recorded his debut single titled "MPR ". Pop Smoke rose to fame with the release of his breakout single "Welcome to the Party" in April 2019. Two remixes of the song were later recorded, with one featuring Nicki Minaj and the other featuring Skepta.
"Real Shit" is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld and American music producer Benny Blanco. It was written by Wrld alongside producers Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Dylan Brady, Henry Kwapis and Jack Karaszewski. It was released to digital retailers as a single by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records on December 2, 2020. It was included as part of the reissue of Blanco's debut studio album Friends Keep Secrets, released in 2021.