Why did Benny Blanco sleep at McDonald’s during his early DJ days in NYC?

Benny Blanco is reflecting on the perilous days he endured during his initial years as a DJ.

The music producer and Selena Gomez's husband-to-be spoke to InStyle in an interview published on Wednesday, June 4, about his early career days as a DJ in New York City, as well as the odd accommodations he'd have to resort to after gigs.

Blanco and his friends “would sleep in the train station, a park, or even the McDonald’s in Times Square," the article reads. “They didn't really know. Are you kidding me? My mom would have lost her mind if she knew I was sleeping on a park bench!”

Benny Blanco's personal life explored: His relationship with his mother, his upcoming nuptials, and more

Benny Blanco dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music instead, having started by playing for dance parties in Brooklyn. At the time, he only had an iMac G5 monitor to his name, which he and his friends would lug around between gigs.

During a July 2018 interview with the New York Times, the artist, born Benjamin Levin, also recounted how he initially wanted to become a rapper until he realized

“no one cares what a chubby Jewish kid from Virginia thinks.”

Following this, he pivoted to producing beats instead. Blanco said at the time.

“I didn’t know anything about songwriting [...] All my beats were like 40 seconds long.”

Now, all these years later, he still thinks his catalog of skills is limited, compared to others:

“I couldn’t sit down and play a concert for you or really wow you on any instrument,” he said. He also attributed “like 75 percent” of his success to just being a good pal. “What I can do is meet an artist, know what type of song I think we should make, and be their therapist, make everyone feel comfortable.”

Elsewhere in his interview with InStyle, Benny Blanco also credited his mother for his familiarity with the "female mind," as he said:

“My mom always took the time to explain how a female mind works because she was going through so many dating traumas when I was growing up. I’ve had some tough times, but I've always been like a very happy person. I just wake up stoked every day.”

Now, at 37 years old, Benny Blanco is hopeful he knows how to treat women right:

“I hope I know how to treat a woman by now! Like, you should always ask a woman what they wanna do. Don't always talk about yourself. Then you put it into practice… and you f*ck up so much, oh my God. You know how many frogs I had to kiss to get to Selena?”

Benny Blanco is known for having produced hit tracks like "Tik Tok" by Kesha, "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry, "Moves Like Jagger" and "Payphone" by Maroon 5, "Diamonds" by Rihanna, and "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz, as reported by People Magazine.

In more personal news, the record producer and Selena Gomez announced their engagement back in December. While they are expected to tie the knot soon, E! News has reported that they have yet to set a date. During an interview with Rolling Stone that was published in March, he said of himself and his partner:

"We’re very much 'take it one day at a time'-type of people. We’re still not over this moment."

Only time will tell when Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez will end up tying the knot.

In the meantime, stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.

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