Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Record producer and songwriter Benny Blanco opened up about his personal life, career, and mental health in a candid new interview on Jake Shane’s hit podcast Therapuss.
The episode, released this week across YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, sees Blanco reflecting on his relationship with fiancée Selena Gomez, sharing heartfelt stories about his struggles with OCD, and reminiscing about working with a teenage Billie Eilish at the start of her career.
Blanco, who proposed to Gomez in late 2024, admitted that wedding planning hasn’t officially begun yet. “Honestly, I really want to take a little break. I’ve been working so much,” he told Shane.
“I just want to lay in bed and forget what day it is because we’ve been in bed just watching stuff. Not usually, but with Selena, I can do it all day. She makes me want to hang out and cuddle, just watch things, eat food, and have the best time ever.”
He added that the couple hopes to sit down this summer and start mapping out their big day. “That wedding is going to be lit,” Shane teased, with Blanco laughing: “It’ll be chill.”
The conversation also delved into Blanco’s lifelong experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The multi-platinum hitmaker spoke openly about the rituals he used to perform as a child to stave off intrusive thoughts. “When I was a kid, I used to have this thing where I had to go ‘mmph.’ If I didn’t do it, I thought my parents were going to die,” he revealed. “Now I have little things where I touch parts of my face or make a fake cough sound—literally hundreds of times a day. It’s involuntary.”
Despite the challenges, Blanco has learned to manage the compulsions that were disruptive to others. “I got rid of all the things that are really annoying to another person. I still do little things like making sure everything in my shower is facing forward. But that’s insane regardless of OCD,” he joked.
Fans were particularly intrigued when Blanco connected Wizards of Waverly Place—the Disney Channel series that made Gomez a household name—to Billie Eilish’s breakthrough hit “Bad Guy.”
“I know the theme song [of Wizards] because it inspired ‘Bad Guy,’” Blanco said. “I worked with Billie when she was legit like 14 years old.” He explained how he and FINNEAS were introduced through a mutual lawyer before Eilish had even played a live show. “They didn’t need my help at all. They always do everything just the two of them, and it’s f—–g incredible.”
Blanco’s appearance on Therapuss joins an impressive roster of guests, including Tate McRae, Renee Rapp, Charli XCX, Joe Jonas, and Lorde.
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Paul McCartney has reflected on the unforgettable day The Beatles met Elvis Presley, calling it one of those surreal “pinch yourself” moments.
McCartney and the rest of The Beatles famously crossed paths with Presley just once in 1965, when they visited his Los Angeles home during a meeting arranged by NME writer Chris Hutchins.
Now, during a new appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years, McCartney looked back on the legendary encounter and shared his memories of the late rock and roll icon.
“He was really great. He was a very handsome guy, but we kind of knew that. We were fans.
“We just followed everything he did, and we looked at any photo we could get. He wasn’t a disappointment at all,” McCartney said.
He went on to explain that over the years he and his former bandmates, including Ringo Starr, have often discussed the meeting, although everyone seems to remember parts of it differently.
“I say that we rang the doorbell and Elvis came to the door and said, ‘come in guys’,” he recalled. “He invited us in and we sat around and he had a jukebox, and played ‘Mohair Sam’, the record.
“Ringo says he didn’t come to the door, we went in and he was sitting there. So who’s right? I am,” he joked.
McCartney described the evening as a special experience and remembered Presley casually picking up a bass guitar during the visit.
“He had a bass there and he was talking about the bass so we could talk, sort of, bass talk. He was great, very personable, very nice.
“He had a bunch of his minders with him, and you read stuff later, and I think they were mainly his cousins, his gang.”
The Beatles legend also remembered meeting Priscilla Presley, describing that part of the night as another standout memory.
“You’re inviting four guys into your home, probably the last thing you need is them to be all over your wife.
“It was great, she was great, Elvis was great,” he continued, before adding: “You pinch yourself. I met, I actually sat with, like I’m sitting with you, Elvis.”
McCartney has previously named Presley as one of the major inspirations behind The Beatles’ landmark album ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.
In other news, McCartney is preparing to release his new album ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ on May 29. The project has already been previewed with tracks including ‘Days We Left Behind’ and ‘Home To Us’, which marks his first official duet with Ringo Starr.
Ahead of the release, McCartney was also interviewed by actor Paul Mescal, who is set to portray him in the upcoming Beatles biopic series.
Currently titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the movies have been written by Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne. The cast includes Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. The films are currently scheduled for release in April 2028.
McCartney later joked about Mescal taking on the role during his recent appearance on the final episode of The Late Show. After performing ‘Hello, Goodbye’ with host Stephen Colbert before symbolically turning off the lights inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre, he was asked which of them was more attractive.
McCartney smiled, pointed to himself and answered: “Me.”
After the audience reacted with applause and laughter, he quickly clarified that he was joking, adding: “No, he’s very cute, he’s very cute.”
Elsewhere, McCartney has also recently spoken about struggling to understand what songs Bob Dylan was playing during a concert, why he dislikes taking selfies, and why he still finds much of influencer culture confusing.
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