Beyoncé Giselle Knowles is one of the world’s best selling artists and Shawn Corey Carter (Jay-Z) is often regarded as one of the most influential hip-hop artists in history. Their individual talents, musical achievements and accolades have cemented them as one of the music industries biggest, most influential power couples. The duo has been married since 2008 – that’s 13 years. Now, with that much power and influence, the artists are rather intimidating. Unfortunately for one artist, a misplaced, initially innocent cheek kiss, almost lead to his demise.
And that artists is, none other than, Benjamin Joseph Levin (Benny Blanco). In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Blanco shared an anecdote from a decade ago that saw him accidentally kiss the Destiny’s Child member.
View this post on Instagram
According to him, the night started out innocently enough, with Bey herself requesting that the producers present at her and Jay-Z’s house in the Hamptons to duke it out in a beat battle. While Blanco was playing, Jazzy started freestyling in Blanco’s ear as Beyoncé sang “little riffs”.
“I’m playing beats, and Jay-Z is there and we’re just chilling. He comes up to me and he’s freestyling in my ear And I’m like, ‘Jay-Z is sitting here while Beyonce is singing little riffs, and he’s freestyling in my ear. And we’re about to all go in the pool after.’ It’s these moments, I’m like, ‘How is this my life?'”
Now, things get tricky when, three nights later, Blanco is getting ready to say goodbye to the couple. Describing himself as “very European”, he attempted a cheek kiss – only to miss.
“And just like, I definitely hit the corner of some sort of lip. I’m like, ‘Oh my God. This is the worst thing in my life,'”
It’s about to get worse, though, as the ‘Lonely’ singer noticed…
“As I’m doing it, out of the corner of my eye, Jay-Z is right there looking at me. And I’m just like, ‘My lip is here. Hers is there, and there’s definitely some corner things are happening.’ And I look at Jay and I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. I’m dead. My life is over. It was great. Nice knowing you guys.’ This man is going to be in a coffin tomorrow. My life flashed before my eyes.”
But, he narrowly escapes as…
“And then, he’s like, ‘All right, bro. See you tomorrow.’ Like, no one noticed.”
View this post on Instagram
Of course, the five-time BMI Songwriter of the Year award winner himself is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. Blanco has contributed to the sale of over 500 million albums worldwide through his work with artists including Ed Sheeran, Halsey, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Sia, The Weeknd, Avicii, Selena Gomez, Adam Lambert, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Tory Lanez, Wiz Khalifa, Kanye West, J Balvin, and Juice Wrld. Blanco recently worked with Justin Bieber on his track, ‘Lonely’, with Finneas O’Connell, with whom he developed a friendship after being there to support Finneas’s sister, Billie Eilish, from before she blew up. Blanco and Finneas came up with ‘Lonely’ in half an hour, after Blanco requested that Finneas write a ballad for Bieber.
“We finally get in the studio one day. We’re like, ‘Let’s make some s*** for Justin. We’re right here. He’s right there.’ [Finneas’s] the best in the world at writing. But I want that ‘When the Party’s [Over],’ I want to cry,”
*Cover image credits: @beyonce / @itsbennyblanco
Post comments (0)