The 35-year-old Virginia-born artist known as Benny Blanco is one of the most prolific songwriters and musicians of the past 10 years. Blanco, who has received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, has helped produce songs with Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna, the Weeknd, Selena Gomez, SZA and more.
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To find a list of no more prestigious artists today would be hard to come by. Indeed, he has contributed to the sale of around half a billion records and billions of song streams. Blanco has also started his own performance career, releasing his 2018 single, “Eastside,” which featured Halsey and Khalid, to great acclaim.
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Below, however, we wanted to dive into songs fans of Blanco likely didn’t know he wrote for and with other artists.
1. “Grrrls,” Lizzo
Written by Max Martin, Theron Thomas, Papa Justifi, Benny Blanco, Ilya, Lizzo, Blake Slatkin
In 2022, the pop star Lizzo released her latest album, Special. The first single from her LP, “Grrrls,” was released in the summer (June 10). Featuring a sample from the Beastie Boys’ song, “Girls,” off the album License to Ill, this song subverts the original. Instead of an ogling track about lust, Lizzo turned it into one about empowerment. Thanks in part to super producer Benny Blanco and others.
Where my girls, where my girls at? (Woo, hoo)
Where my girls, where my girls at? (Woo, hoo)
Yeah, this the type of fight I’m lookin’ for
Where my girls, where my girls at? (Woo, hoo)
Let me take these earrings off
And hit the boosie ratchet with my friends
Woah, oh, woah, oh (whoop that ho)
I’ma go Lorena Bobbitt on him so he never fuck again, no-oh, oh
Now you can’t fuck again, bro
2. “Crying in the Club,” Camila Cabello
Written by Sia, Benny Blanco, Happy Perez, Cashmere Cat, Camila Cabello
The debut song by current pop star Camila Cabello after her departure from the group Fifth Harmony, “Crying in the Club” includes a sample of Christina Aguilera’s 1999 hit, “Genie in a Bottle.” The song has since been certified platinum in the United States, U.K., and more. On it, Cabello sings over a bowed cello. It’s a song about giving your “all” for another but not getting the love back you deserve.
You think, that you’ll die without him
You know, that’s a lie that you tell yourself
You fear, that you’ll lay alone forever now
It ain’t true, ain’t true, ain’t true, no
So put your arms around me tonight
Let the music lift you up
Like you’ve never been so high
Open up your heart to me
Let the music lift you up
Like you’ve never been this free
‘Til you feel the sunrise
Let the music warm your body
Like the heat of a thousand fires
The heat of a thousand fires
3. “Nobody Gets Me,” SZA
Written by Benny Blanco, SZA, Carter Lang
This track from SZA’s 2022 hit album, SOS, was written by just three artists: SZA, Blanco, and Carter Lang. The song, which hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, is all about being misunderstood. In the lyrics, the hitmaker SZA talks about her breakup with her ex-fiance. That fissure turned her life upside down, in many ways, SZA sings. The person she thought she could trust became someone she didn’t even know.
Took a long vacation, no makeup, just Jay-Z
You were balls deep, now we beefin’, had me butt-naked at the MGM
So wasted screamin’, “Fuck that, ” love me now, but I’m anythin’
Hurry now, baby, stick it in ‘fore the memories get to kickin’ in
It’s too late, I don’t wanna lose what’s left of you
How am I supposed to tell ya?
I don’t wanna see you with anyone but me
Nobody gets me like you
How am I supposed to let you go?
Only like myself when I’m with you
Nobody gets me, you do (do)
4. “Nightmare,” Halsey
Written by Benny Blanco, Happy Perez, Cashmere Cat, Halsey
Released in 2019, “Nightmare” by Halsey was added as a bonus track on the extended edition of her fourth studio album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. The song is a big, anthemic track on which Halsey seems to get tons of emotion and even anger out. The song’s music video shows her in a number of outfits and in both sensual and glamorous positions. Among other topics, the song takes on the Patriarchy.
I’ve been polite, but I won’t be caught dead
Letting a man tell me what I should do in my bed
5. “Diamonds,” Rihanna
Written by Sia, Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Benny Blanco
One of the most successful songs of the past decade, or so, “Diamonds” from Rihanna, which she performed at her recent Super Bowl halftime show, has garnered billions of streams on its own. It’s also topped the charts in more than 20 countries thanks to its catchy chorus and Rihanna’s star power.
Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond
Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy
You and I, you and I, we’re like diamonds in the sky
You’re a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy
When you hold me, I’m alive, we’re like diamonds in the sky
I knew that we’d become one right away
Oh, right away
At first sight I felt the energy of sun rays
I saw the life inside your eyes
Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images
