Benny Blanco Debuts With Khalid & Halsey-Assisted “Eastside”
Writer and super producer Benny Blanco has crafted some of the biggest hits of the last decade. The 30-year-old worked with the likes of Katy Perry (“Teenage Dream”), Britney Spears (“Circus”), Rihanna (“Diamonds”) and Julia Michaels (“Issues”). Earlier this week he announced plans to launch an artist project, and that officially starts today (July 12) with the release of “Eastside.” The nostalgic anthem features vocals from Khalid and Halsey as well as a writing credit from Ed Sheeran. The star-studded lineup itself all but guarantees a smash. Unsurprisingly the final product definitely delivers on the hit-factor.
Singing about a forbidden romance over a breezy production, Khalid opens the track. “When I was young I fell in love. We used to hold hands, man, that was enough.” However, the fates (and his partner’s dad) were against the relationship. So they carried on their story on the down low. “She used to meet me on the Eastside. In the city where the sun don’t set. And every day you know that we ride through the backstreets in a blue Corvette.” Playing the role of his lover, Halsey comes in for a verse of her own. Looking back on the earliest days of their relationship, she longs for those simpler times.
In an interview with Zane Lowe on AppleMusic’s Beats 1, the hitmaker opened up about working with his collaborators. He gushed over Halsey’s vocals and revealed that they are working on material for her new LP. “She just has such as a swag that pop artists really lack these days. It’s crazy to me. I’m doing her new record and she’s a homie of mine and we were just in the studio, and it just kind of happened,” he explained. The “Tik Tok” producer also shared some insight into Khalid. “The crazy thing is, you’re in the room with them and he just kind of does this thing where he just like, smiles. But the second he gets in the booth… he’s so shy and very sweet and soft-spoken, and then he gets in the booth, and he just turns into this absolute animal.”
Fans may note that “Eastside” was crafted with a multitude of producers and writes including Cashmere Cat and several others alongside the above-mentioned talent. Benny explained this is a reflection of how he prefers to create his hits. “Look, this is how I work on records, man. I’m not a part of this like old school… like, one person does this. It’s like, if I have a homie over, and they’re listening to the song and they’re like, ‘Oh, I got a guitar lick for that,’ or ‘Let me throw some drums on that,’ ‘Let me let me do this.’ Sometimes, they’re half-finished songs from four years before. For me, it’s just the way music comes together.”
The more the merrier, and this is also indicative of how he feels about releasing music. He told Lowe that he has at least 30 songs featuring “your favorite artists” that he’d like to release. “I think they’re tight, and I think people should hear them,” he said. While we wait for his next bop to drop, check out his debut release below!
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