Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer, songwriter, record executive and author. 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.
In July 2018, Blanco 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]
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.[7]
After Friends Keep Secrets and Mad Love were dissolved in 2024, Blanco owns an imprint of Interscope, A&M Records (founded by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962).
Early life and career beginnings
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]
Career
2007–present
Blanco in 2015
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 BillboardHot 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]
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 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 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".[30]
On December 16, 2023, Juice Wrld released "Lace It" with Eminem and Blanco.[31]
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.[32]
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.[33]
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,[34] was published on April 30, 2024, by Dey Street Books/HarperCollins.[35] Co-authored with Jess Damuck, Open Wide debuted on best seller lists from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and USA TODAY,[36] 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 and Eric André.
Record labels
In 2014, Blanco founded two imprint labels under Interscope, Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets.[37] The former label includes the following artists, many of whom were initially signed with the former, which served as its predecessor.[38][39]
"You": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 8 February 2021". The ARIA Report. No. 1614. Australian Recording Industry Association. February 8, 2021. p. 4.
