Benny Blanco
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| Benny Blanco | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1988 |
| Origin | Reston, Virginia |
| Genres | Electro, pop rock, power pop |
| Occupations | Rapper, musician, songwriter, record producer |
Benjamin Levin (born March 8, 1988), better known as Benny Blanco, is an American songwriter and producer from Reston, Virginia.[1] He first came to the attention of Internet blogosphere producing a collaborative EP with Spank Rock. Working with producer Dr. Luke, Blanco helped to write and produce number one singles for female pop superstars such as Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Ke$ha, as well as artists like Justin Bieber, Mike Posner and Taio Cruz.[2] He has had a part in co-writing or co-producing twelve number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as other top ten hits.
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[edit] Life and career
[edit] Early Life
When Blanco was 17 he received an e-mail from Disco D, and went to his penthouse in Brooklyn and asked if he could work for him. He said, “I’m leaving for Brazil next week, and you’re going to come and fill the studio for me. If you book someone to work at the studio every day of the week, you’re hired.” When Disco came back he hired Blanco and would come up every weekend from Virginia during high school. After he graduated he enrolled in the IAR (Institute of Audio Research) and worked with Disco D every day until being picked up by Pilot Creative Services Inc, a boutique management firm that had been working with D in the latter part of his career.[3]
[edit] Career Beginnings
His first beat was created for a pornography series called Hip Hop Honeys, created by Jonathan Shecter, the cofounder of The Source.[1][1]
Spank Rock was friends with Disco D and his manager, James Johnson, so when Disco died, Spank Rock came over to Pilot's Studio to mourn Disco like a family. They started to freestyle over this beat that Disco did. Blanco says "D was doing all these crazy, weird beats, and I decided to do something like that and carry on his legacy." Blanco decided he wanted to step away from hip-hop and work with weird bass sounds. Blanco thought that Spank was the only one who could do his new production style justice. Blanco sampled 2 Live Crew songs and begged Spank to work with him. After doing one demo in his manager's loft, Spank shopped it and had a deal for "Bangers & Cash" the next week.[3] The EP featured guest appearances from Amanda Blank and Santogold.[4]
[edit] Current
Since early 2008, Benny Blanco has worked with Dr. Luke.[5] After providing additional production for Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold",[6] Blanco jumped into co-producing Britney Spears' "Circus"(as well as two other songs on the album) and 3OH!3's breakthrough single "Don't Trust Me", where he received widespread attention for both.[7][8]
More recently, Blanco has been working side by side with Neon Hitch on her debut album "Beg, Borrow and Steal" for which he is the Executive Producer.
In addition, Blanco recently Co-Wrote & Co-Produced two tracks for Britney Spears' album Femme Fatale and has been working on new material with Bruno Mars, Mike Posner, Ke$ha, Gym Class Heros, Maroon 5, Sean Paul, Pitbull, and many more.
In 2010, Blanco's song for Katy Perry, "California Gurls" debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. On the issue dated June 19, 2010 the song reached #1, becoming Perry's second number-one song and Snoop Dogg's third. In 2011 Blanco's song for Ke$ha, "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the seventeenth song in the history of the chart to debut at number one and became Kesha's fifth straight top-ten hit in the United States.[9]
In 2011 it was announced that Blanco would also be collaborating with Rapper Wiz Khalifa on his album Rolling Papers (Wiz Khalifa album). Blanco produced the track "No Sleep" which debuted at #6 on Billboard Hot 100.
[edit] Top Ten Singles
The following singles peaked inside the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay (Radio Songs) and/or the UK Singles Chart.
- 2008: "I Kissed a Girl" (Katy Perry) #1
- 2008: "Hot n Cold" (Katy Perry) #1
- 2008: "Circus" (Britney Spears) #1
- 2009: "Don't Trust Me" (3OH!3) #1
- 2009: "Tik Tok" (Ke$ha) #1
- 2010: "Eenie Meenie" (Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber)
- 2010: "Blah Blah Blah" (Ke$ha)
- 2010: "Your Love Is My Drug" (Ke$ha) #1
- 2010: "My First Kiss" (3OH!3)
- 2010: "California Gurls" (Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg) #1
- 2010: "Please Don't Go" (Mike Posner)
- 2010: "Dynamite" (Taio Cruz) #1
- 2010: "Teenage Dream" (Katy Perry) #1
- 2010: "We R Who We R" (Ke$ha) #1
- 2011: "Blow" (Ke$ha)
- 2011: "No Sleep" (Wiz Khalifa)
- 2011: "Stereo Hearts" (Gym Class Heroes & Adam Levine) #1
- 2011: "Moves Like Jagger" (Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera) #1
[edit] Production Discography
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Tiffany N. D'Emidio (July 23, 2008). "A wild and crazy ride with producer Benny Blanco". Eclipse. Entertainment News Network. http://eclipsemagazine.com/Music/6131/. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
- ^ http://poppingdance.tk/2010-spoilers-a-list-of-the-new-decades-best-young-music-producers/[dead link]
- ^ a b "Virginia native Benny Blanco becomes an in-demand producer at 22 | New Music Reviews, Music News, Music Videos, Lyrics and much more!". Newmusicreviews.net. http://newmusicreviews.net/virginia-native-benny-blanco-becomes-an-in-demand-producer-at-22/. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- ^ "Interview with: Benny Blanco". popwreckoning. http://popwreckoning.com/2008/08/02/interview-with-benny-blanco/. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- ^ "Interview with: Benny Blanco". popwreckoning. http://popwreckoning.com/2008/08/02/interview-with-benny-blanco. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- ^ "Katy Perry - One Of The Boys (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 2008-06-17. http://www.discogs.com/release/1371111. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- ^ "Britney Spears' 'Circus' in stores". Yahoo! Biz. Yahoo!. October 31, 2008. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081031/ny43349.html?.v=1. Retrieved November 1, 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Tjames Madison (September 4, 2008). "3OH!3 to support new LP with headlining dates". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster. http://www.livedaily.com/news/14834.html. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
- ^ Lamb, Bill. "Kesha: "We R Who We Are"". About.com. New York Times Company. http://top40.about.com/b/2010/11/03/kehas-we-r-who-we-r-to-debut-at-1-on-billboard-hot-100.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
