How Should Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco Feel About the First-Week Performance of ‘I Said I Love You First’?
While Selena Gomez is never out of the spotlight for too long, it had been a full half-decade since we last got an LP from her — 2020’s Rare — until the release of I Said I Love You First this March.
The new project — released as a collaborative album with her longtime collaborator and fiancé, star producer Benny Blanco — debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 this week (dated Apr. 5), with 120,000 units moved in its first week, according to Luminate. Though the set is Gomez’s first LP since leaving backing band The Scene not to debut atop the chart, it also arrives with her best-ever debut numbers, and launches four hits on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 (though none in the top 40).
How should Gomez and Blanco feel about their opening performance? And what other producer-singer teamups might we like to see full albums from? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s I Said I Love You First album debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 120,000 units moved in its first week. On a scale from 1-10, how pleased should they be with that opening performance?
Rania Aniftos: 10, absolutely. Gomez hasn’t released an album in five years, and to come back with such success alongside the love of her life must be incredibly validating.
Stephen Daw: I’m giving this a 9. Sure, a No. 1 debut would have been nice here, especially considering that Selena’s last two solo albums topped the Billboard 200 in their first outings. But, take one look at the numbers and you’ll see that I Said I Love You First had a better first week than Stars Dance, Revival and Rare. The only album that managed to beat I Love You on this week’s chart was Playboi Carti’s immediate megahit MUSIC, which very few albums would have been able to beat in the first place — so this high of a debut is ultimately a huge deal for both Selena and Benny.
Kyle Denis: An 8. I think they should both be thrilled. Obviously, a No. 1 is nice, but this debut gives Benny his highest charting Billboard 200 entry as a lead artist, and Selena earns her largest week by units. They also landed several songs on the Hot 100, so this is unquestionably a win for them.
Jason Lipshutz: An 8. While Gomez and Blanco narrowly missed out on a No. 1 debut, the pair have to be pretty proud of posting a greater first-week equivalent albums unit total than Gomez’s Rare did five years ago — and that album had a No. 1 single in “Lose You to Love Me.” A collaborative project like this is never guaranteed a major commercial bow, and the half-decade gap between Gomez studio projects could have easily slowed momentum, so the fact that I Said I Love You First started so strong should be seen as a major win by all parties involved.
Andrew Unterberger: A 7. It’s an impressive first-week number, and the buzz around the album seems to be mostly positive, but the number of late-week variants released of I Love You would seem to suggest the artists and their teams were really hoping for a No. 1 debut, and they couldn’t quite get over the top there.
2. Though as a chronicling of their love story, obviously the album means a great deal to both Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco personally, which of the two do you think it means more career-wise?
Rania Aniftos: Selena. She’s been through a lot, both personally and medically, over the past few years and has even thought about saying goodbye to her music career. Thankfully, Blanco inspired her to use her musical talents again and it paid off. Again, this is probably so validating and exciting for her, and I’m looking forward to what she’s going to release in the future.
Stephen Daw: Benny Blanco, for sure. While Benny has a handful of Hot 100 hits as a featured artist on others’ tracks (and a few dozen No. 1s as a producer and songwriter), his sole credit on the Billboard 200 was his 2018 Friends Keep Secrets EP, which hit a No. 41 peak in 2019. To score a No. 2 debut with his fiancée is no doubt a huge personal milestone for the singer as well as being a massive coup for his professional career.
Kyle Denis: This is tough because I don’t really think it means that much for either of them in the grand scheme of things. Similar to PND with the Drake joint album last month, I Said I Love You First smartly leverages Selena’s star power to lift Benny to commercial heights that he’s never seen before – and likely wouldn’t ever see – as a billed lead artist. The album is also a reminder of what a solid pop craftsman Benny is, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it leads to his phone ringing a bit more in the coming months.
As for Selena, between starring in an Oscar-winning film (Emilia Pérez) and picking up her first SAG Award (Only Murders in the Building) earlier this year, she didn’t really need to put out another album. She seems more fulfilled on the acting side and the projects have been acclaimed and successful – and we haven’t even gotten into her Rare Beauty empire and other business endeavors. If anything, this new album is probably a cathartic moment for Selena; it’s proof that there’s still an audience interested in her music and a reminder that she can still have fun and be present while making music. I don’t think this album revitalizes her as a major player in the 2025 pop game, but it does show us that the musical avenue is still open for Selena Gomez – whether she’s prioritizing it or not.
By Rania Aniftos
