Benjamin Levin (musician)

Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Blanco has also won five BMI Songwriter of the Year Awards, won the 2017 iHeartRadio Producer of the Year Award, and received eleven Grammy Award nominations.

He was initially mentored by Dr. Luke, who signed him to his production company Kasz Money Productions. Blanco was thereafter credited on various productions with Luke from 2008 to the mid-2010s. Since then, Blanco has contributed to albums and singles that have sold a cumulative 500 million album-equivalent units; having produced or co-written for Ed Sheeran, BTS, Eminem, 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, Ariana Grande, Kali Uchis, Juice Wrld, and SZA, among others.

In July 2018, Blanco released his debut single as a lead artist, " Eastside" (with Halsey and Khalid). The song peaked at number nine on the US ''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. Each released that same year, Blanco's follow-up singles — " I Found You" (with Calvin Harris), "Better to Lie" (with Jesse and Swae Lee) and "Roses" (with Brendon Urie and Juice Wrld) — preceded the release of his debut studio album, '' Friends Keep Secrets'', in December. A deluxe issue, titled '' Friends Keep Secrets 2'' was released in March 2021, a date which coincided with the original receiving a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latter spawned the top 40 single " Lonely" (with Justin Bieber). With his fiancée Selena Gomez, they released the album ''I Said I Love You First'' in 2025.

Blanco 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. After both labels dissolved a decade later, he signed with A&M Records, an imprint of Interscope, where he became a general manager.

Early life and career beginnings

Levin was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, and raised in Reston, Virginia, to Sandra and Andrew Levin and has an older brother. He is Jewish. 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' " The World Is Yours" and All-4-One's "I Swear" on cassette tapes, which influenced his early productions. After early experiments with beat making and recording himself on his boombox, Blanco's rapping earned the attention of ''The Source'' magazine and executives at Columbia Records.

His stage name came from the similarly named fictional character (played by John Leguizamo) in the 1993 film ''Carlito's Way'', and was a reference to him being a white rapper.

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.

Career

2007–present

Blanco was mentored for several years by Dr. Luke, who signed Blanco to his production company Kasz Money Productions. 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. 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.

In 2011, Blanco wrote and produced his first charting hits without Dr. Luke, among them Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" and Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts". The same year, Blanco went on to work on Maroon 5's Platinum-selling album '' Overexposed'' and its lead single "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa.

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. 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."

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.

Artist projects

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. 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. His debut album '' Friends Keep Secrets'' was released on December 7, 2018.

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. 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.

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".

In October 2020, Blanco released his first artist collaboration with Justin Bieber titled " Lonely". The second and third singles ("Real Shit" with Juice Wrld and "Unlearn" with Gracie Abrams) 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.

On August 5, 2022, Blanco released his first artist collaboration with BTS members Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook as well as Snoop Dogg titled " Bad Decisions".

On December 16, 2023, a posthumous Juice Wrld song with Blanco and Eminem titled "Lace It" was released.

On October 17, 2024, Blanco released a collaboration with Myke Towers, the song "Degenere" reached #1 on the Latin Airplay Chart and Billboard's Latin Rhythm Chart.

In February 2025, Blanco and fiancée Selena Gomez announced a collaborative album, ''I Said I Love You First'', which was released on March 21, 2025. " Scared of Loving You" was the first track to be released from the album.

Media

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.

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.

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''.

Books

Blanco's first book, ''Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends'', was published on April 30, 2024, by Dey Street Books/HarperCollins. 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 Blanco's own recipes as well as dishes and advice from friends including Matty Matheson, Lil Dicky, Mike Solomonov, Mario Carbone and Eric André.

Record labels

In 2014, Blanco founded two imprint labels under Interscope, Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets. The label includes the following artists, many of whom were initially signed with the former, which served as its predecessor.

* Tory Lanez (former)
* Cashmere Cat
* Trill Sammy
* 6 Dogs (former; deceased)
*Ryn Weaver
* Jessie Ware

As of 2024, they were both defunct, and Interscope relaunched a new A&M Records label, operated by Blanco.

Personal life

Blanco has been in a relationship with Selena Gomez since June 2023. They formally announced their engagement on December 11, 2024, following a period of media rumors.

Discography

As producer

Albums

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Reissues

Singles

As lead artist

Promotional singles

Other charted songs

Notes

Songwriting and production discography

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", "We R Who We R"), Taio Cruz ("Dynamite"), Wiz Khalifa ("Work Hard, Play Hard"), Gym Class Heroes ("Stereo Hearts"), Lil Dicky ("Freaky Friday"), Tory Lanez (" Luv").

Awards and nominations

Filmography

References

External links

*

Open Wide a cookbook for friends

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco, Benny
1988 births
Living people
Record producers from Virginia
Jewish American composers
Songwriters from Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
Interscope Records artists
A&M Records artists
21st-century American Jews
Latin music songwriters
American dance-pop musicians
American dance musicians
Urbano musicians
People with lower case names and pseudonyms