Benny Blanco – Put Your Hands
9th June 2021 · 2000s, 2002, Dance, Funk, Jazz, Music, Soul
Here is Marlena Shaw reimagined in a deep house tune by Benny Blanco – probably the most successful guy in the entire music biz.
An exaggeration? His single Eastside, which I just randomly looked up on YouTube, has been watched nearly 600 million times… And listened to 1.2 BILLION times on Spotify.
In less than a decade as writer and producer, Benjamin Levin has worked on an astounding 29 chart-topping singles in the USA, and been responsible for record sales of more than 500 million. And he's still only 33.
Not bad for a bloke who started out making beats on his boombox and rapping over the top in his bedroom.
Success came after he hooked up with Lukasz Gottwald, the guitarist in Saturday Night Live's house band. Together they wrote hits for Katy Perry, Kesha and Britney Spears – the latter song (Circus) getting 5.5 millon downloads.
Going solo after that, he has had hits with artists including Ed Sheeeran and Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande, and lots more people grown-ups haven't heard of.
He has recently diversified into the world of cookery with a YouTube show he hosts with a famous American chef called Matty Matheson, in which Benny teaches guests to rap and his fat friend teaches them to cook.
Personally, I couldn't get past the regrettable title, Matty And Benny Eat Out America, though their new show has an even worse title – Stupid Fucking Cooking Show.
Nevertheless, this is a tasty tune (see what I did there). Even if the bloke who uploaded it can't spell Blanco.