Benny Blanco

• 1. Introduction

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  Benny Blanco walked onstage on the 13th of June 2013 at the 44th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony. The award in his hands was the Hal David Starlight Award, given to young artists who have already made an impression on the music industry. He was 25 years old. 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."

  The man making that joke was born Benjamin Joseph Levin, and he writes his professional name in all lowercase. How does a young hip-hop hopeful find his way into the biggest pop records of his era? What did he do with that success once he had it? And why does a producer's story now run through cookbooks, a podcast and a marriage to Selena Gomez?

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• 2. Bedroom Beginnings

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  Benjamin Joseph Levin was born on the 8th of March 1988 in Reston, Virginia, and he grew up there. His first serious exposure to music came in 1994, when he was six years old. The sources were two cassette tapes: Nas's "The World Is Yours" and All-4-One's "I Swear". Both left a mark on the productions he made later.

  As a young teenager he built hip-hop instrumentals in his bedroom and recorded his own vocals on top of them. He also taped himself rapping on a boombox. That rapping caught the attention of The Source magazine and of executives at Columbia Records.

  The name Benny Blanco came from a fictional character of the same name, played by John Leguizamo in the 1993 film Carlito's Way. It was a joke about the fact that he was a white rapper.

  Summers at Camp Airy in Thurmont, Maryland, gave him a stage of another kind. For many years of his childhood he performed there and hosted a radio show under the name "Ebba Ebba".

  Breaking into the business took persistence. He made multiple trips from Virginia to New York City to meet labels and producers. Those trips eventually led to an apprenticeship with the producer Disco D. A different mentor, Dr. Luke, would shape the years that followed.

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• 3. Hits for Others

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  Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Kesha's "TiK ToK" and Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" share a credit. Blanco co-produced and co-wrote all three while under the guidance of Dr. Luke. Luke signed him to his production company, Kasz Money Productions. Their credits together run from 2008 into the mid-2010s.

  Britney Spears's "Circus" is the clearest example of what that partnership could produce. Blanco helped write and produce it in 2008, alongside Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly. The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on American pop radio. As of July 2016 it had sold over 3.2 million downloads in the United States, making it her second-best-selling digital song there. Worldwide, the IFPI counted 5.5 million digital copies sold in 2009, putting it among that year's ten best-selling songs.

  In 2011 Blanco wrote and produced his first charting hits without Dr. Luke. They included Maroon 5's "Moves like Jagger" and Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts". That same year he worked on Maroon 5's Platinum-selling album Overexposed, whose lead single was "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa.

  The list of names that followed reads like a radio dial. Blanco has produced or co-written for Ed Sheeran, BTS, Eminem, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Rihanna, the Weeknd, Kanye West, Avicii, Ariana Grande, SZA and Juice Wrld, among many others. Albums and singles he contributed to have sold a cumulative 500 million album-equivalent units. Tallies credit him with 29 number-one songs in total.

  The trophies match the numbers. He has won five BMI Songwriter of the Year Awards and the 2017 iHeartRadio Producer of the Year Award. He has also received eleven Grammy Award nominations. Yet a year before "Circus", in 2007, he had already put out a record that carried his own name on the cover.

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• 4. Stepping Forward

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  The 9th of October 2007 saw the release of Bangers & Cash, an EP Blanco made with Baltimore rapper Spank Rock. It was built on samples of 2 Live Crew and came out on the label Downtown as a CD. Rolling Stone and Pitchfork were among those who praised it. It also sparked connections with future collaborators Amanda Blank and Santigold. The discography in the source lists an RIAA platinum certification for it.

  Blanco did not release a single as lead artist until July 2018. That single was "Eastside", with Halsey and Khalid, issued on his own label Friends Keep Secrets with Interscope Records. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, his 27th top-ten song as a writer. That tally includes seven number-one singles on the chart. "Eastside" topped the charts in New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Singapore and the United Kingdom. It also reached the top ten in Australia, Canada, Denmark and Norway.

  Three more singles arrived before the year ended: "I Found You" with Calvin Harris, "Better to Lie" with Jesse and Swae Lee, and "Roses" with Juice Wrld featuring Brendon Urie. His debut studio album, Friends Keep Secrets, followed on the 7th of December 2018.

  In January 2019 he released "I Found You / Nilda's Story" with Calvin Harris and Miguel. It launched alongside The While They Wait Fund, which benefits asylum seekers in the United States. The fund was an initiative of Brooklyn Defender Services, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Its video, directed by Jake Schreier, told the story of a Honduran woman named Nilda and her two-year-old son Keyden.

  February 2019 brought "I Can't Get Enough" with Tainy, Selena Gomez and J Balvin. On the 30th of August 2019 he released "Graduation" with Juice Wrld, their second collaboration after "Roses".

  In October 2020 Blanco released his first collaboration with Justin Bieber, "Lonely". It became a top 40 single. "Real Shit" with Juice Wrld followed in December 2020 and "Unlearn" with Gracie Abrams in March 2021. On the 26th of March 2021 he issued the deluxe edition titled Friends Keep Secrets 2. The date coincided with the original album earning an RIAA platinum certification.

  On the 5th of August 2022 he released "Bad Decisions" with BTS members Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook, plus Snoop Dogg. On the 16th of December 2023 came "Lace It", a posthumous Juice Wrld song featuring Blanco and Eminem. In October 2024 he turned toward Latin music.

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• 5. Latin Turn

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  On the 17th of October 2024, Blanco released "Degenere" with Myke Towers. The song reached number one on the Latin Pop chart, the Latin Airplay chart and Billboard's Latin Rhythm chart. It did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but it peaked at number 35 on the Hot Latin Songs chart.

  Recognition from the Latin industry followed in 2025. He was nominated for a Latin Billboard Award for Latin Pop Song of the Year. He won the award for Crossover Artist of the Year.

  On the 25th of August 2025, the Blanco and Gomez collaboration with The Marías, "Ojos Tristes", reached number one on the overall Latin chart, the Latin Pop chart and the Urban Latin chart. It also reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100.

  On the 14th of November 2025 he released "Perro Fiel" with Netón Vega. "Ojos Tristes" belongs to the album he made with his wife, which has its own story.

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• 6. Running the Labels

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  In 2014 Blanco founded two imprint labels under Interscope Records, named Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets. Mad Love was the predecessor, and many of the artists on the roster signed with it first. Those artists include Tory Lanez, Cashmere Cat, Trill Sammy, Ryn Weaver and Jessie Ware. The source lists Lanez as a former signee, and it lists 6 Dogs as a former signee who has died.

  By 2024 both labels were defunct. Interscope relaunched a new A&M Records label, operated by Blanco, where he served as general manager.

  In October 2025 he left A&M. His replacement was Gregg Nadel, the former co-president of Elektra Records. The following month brought a Grammy nomination.

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• 7. Kitchen and Screen

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  On the 9th of March 2020, Blanco and chef Matty Matheson debuted a cooking show on Blanco's YouTube channel, Matty and Benny Eat Out America. The first episode visited Kenny Beats's show The Cave, where Blanco taught Matheson to rap. Later guests included Lil Dicky, Mason Ramsey, Diplo and Laird Hamilton.

  On the 16th of April 2020 he made his television debut, playing a fictionalized version of himself on the first and second seasons of the FXX series Dave. On the 31st of March 2021 he and Matheson launched a second show on the same channel, Stupid F*cking Cooking Show.

  The 30th of April 2024 saw publication of his first book, Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends. Dey Street Books and HarperCollins published it, and Jess Damuck co-authored it. It debuted on best seller lists from The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today, and it sat on the New York Times list for two weeks. The book is a guide to entertaining, with Blanco's own recipes and dishes and advice from friends. Those friends include Matty Matheson, Lil Dicky, Mike Solomonov, Mario Carbone and Eric Andre.

  On the 18th of February 2026, Blanco, Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco launched a multimedia podcast called Friends Keep Secrets, borrowing the name of his label and debut album. It features informal conversations with celebrity guests, including Ed Sheeran and Lizzo. Hidden cameras film it in the Los Angeles home of Lil Dicky and Batalucco.

  On the debut episode Blanco appeared barefoot, with visibly dirty feet. That drew online criticism and discussion of his personal hygiene, which he later addressed publicly. On the 16th of April 2026 he appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on an episode of Beef.

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• 8. Marriage and Music

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  Blanco has been in a relationship with Selena Gomez since June 2023. Before that, in 2019, he was reportedly dating the model Elsie Hewitt. After a period of media speculation, Blanco and Gomez formally announced their engagement on the 11th of December 2024.

  In February 2025 the engaged couple announced a collaborative album, I Said I Love You First. It was released on the 21st of March 2025, with "Scared of Loving You" the first track released from it. The album peaked at number two in the United States, and sales of 78,000 in the United States are listed for it.

  Blanco and Gomez were married on the 27th of September 2025 at the Sea Crest Nursery in Santa Barbara, California.

  On the 7th of November 2025, Blanco received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording, for "Bluest Flame" with Selena Gomez. The song appears among the charted songs from I Said I Love You First, a title that was extended to I Said I Love You First... And You Said It Back, which lists "Talk" among its charted songs.

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