Benny Blanco is a prolific songwriter having worked with the likes of Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Lana Del Rey, and many other highly-acclaimed artists. He has yet to work with Drake, however. During an interview with Q Magazine, Blanco admits he might be one of the only artists left on his list of desired collaborations.
Considering Blanco's career achievements, his hesitance to make this collaboration happen comes with humility.
"There's definitely less artists I haven't worked with than I have. I've worked with all the people I've wanted to work with [except Drake]."
"At the same time, he already has his thing and it sounds so good that I wouldn't want to mess it up."
This timidity also extends to his feelings about being a performer: "Look, I wanna be the center of attention with my friends. I don't wanna be the center of attention with the world." He later adds, "I'm not a very public person in that side of things, I just don't love the feeling of it."
He recalls the moment this perspective started to shift. He was watching a documentary about Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre with his buddy, Ed Sheeran. "We were watching 'The Defiant Ones', back to back, before one of Ed's shows. He stood up and he's like, 'What the f*ck are we doing with our lives? These guys are doing everything.' I was like, 'Yeah!' and then he was like, 'Alright, I'm gonna go play this show.'"
"He literally played a stadium and I was just sitting backstage by myself. I was like, 'What am I doing with my life?' I was sitting there having one of those moments where you're digging deep."
[via]