genre pop

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.

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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. 

Jason Lipshutz: Blanco. As Gomez has nimbly balanced the different parts of her career — recently co-starring in the Oscar winner Emilia Pérez, prepping a new season of Only Murders in the Building, in addition to her various brand and sponsorship deals — music can become part of a whole, her creativity diversified after years of studio output that resulted in several chart hits. While Blanco has enjoyed phenomenal success as a producer and songwriter, this is the first week in which he’s credited as an artist on a top 10 album! That accomplishment has to be meaningful, especially with a project as personally important as this one.

Andrew Unterberger: I think it’s Blanco, as despite multiple career’s worth of hits and an ever-rising Q rating, he’s still mostly felt like The Guy Behind The Guy for most of his career. On those grounds, I’m sure that getting to play The Guy Alongside His Superstar Fiancée on a full big-selling pop album is pretty rewarding and meaningful.

3. Gomez and Blanco have a quartet of songs scattered around the Hot 100 this week, led by the Gracie Abrams-featuring “Call Me When You Break Up” at No. 46 and the Marias-assisted “Ojos Tristes” at No. 59. Do you see any of those songs as being the lasting breakout hit from the project, or do you think it’ll be something else from the album — or will it not generate such a hit at all?

Rania Aniftos: It’s going to be “Bluest Flame,” especially as we head into the summer. The Charli XCX-written song is already generating buzz on TikTok, and leaning into the dance/electronic world has previously worked well for Gomez, as we’ve seen with her past Kygo, Zedd and Marshmello collaborations. I can see it becoming the breakaway hit from the album.

Stephen Daw: While I do think that “Ojos Tristes” is one of the best tracks off the album, I think it’s either going to be “Call Me When You Break Up” or nothing here. Gracie Abrams is still riding high with “That’s So True” rising through the Top 40 of the Hot 100, and “Call Me” is the most immediately memorable tracks off the album. The songwriting, the performances and the production all lend themselves well to becoming a modest hit here. 

Kyle Denis: I think “Ojos Tristes” is the album’s best bet for a lasting hit, though there’s an outside chance that “Bluest Flame” could do a little something. Generally, I’m not expecting a major hit from the album at all.

Jason Lipshutz: I am waiting for “Bluest Flame” to start getting some club pickup, particularly as the weather heats up and pop fans are salivating for Brat Summer II. The album highlight, co-written by Charli XCX herself, leaps off the speaker with movement and moxie; Gomez has been part of dance hits in the past, but she’s never operated at this Boiler Room-ready frequency before, and the surprise is part of the appeal. Maybe “Bluest Flame” never cracks the top 40, but I could certainly see this one becoming a cult favorite and minor hit.

Andrew Unterberger: It’s very telling about where pop music is in 2025 that the dreamy, downtempo bilingual collaboration with The Marias feels like it has a higher commercial ceiling than the hooky, uptempo teamup with Gracie Abrams — but “Ojos Tristes” certainly seems to have captured the moment and the momentum. Which is objectively pretty cool, even though I think “Call Me When You Break Up” is probably the better song.

4. While Selena Gomez was one of the biggest pop stars of the 2010s, she hasn’t put out a full album since Rare at the very beginning of the (pre-pandemic) 2020s. Do you think I Said I Love You First and its rollout re-establishes her as a major pop star of this decade as well? 

Rania Aniftos: Sure, especially because Gomez is unique in her pop style. She’s always balanced vulnerability and ethereal sexiness well — and in an era of fun, flashy pop, it’s nice to see the return of a softer pop artist.

Stephen Daw: Does I Said I Love You First show that Selena is a great performer who deserves to be considered in the 2020s canon of pop stars? Sure. Do I think it signals the return of Pop Star Selena Gomez? No, and that is fine! Selena has made it clear in plenty of interviews that pop stardom is not something she’s aspiring for in this decade — in fact, it’s very likely that we won’t hear another solo Selena Gomez album, based on what she’s told us. I Said I Love You First, to me, is proof of concept that if Selena wanted to continue with her pop career, she very easily could; but that doesn’t mean that she will. 

Kyle Denis: I think it reinforces her overall brand strength and general celebrity, but none of these songs have really caught on in a meaningful way, she and Benny couldn’t overcome Carti’s second week despite a breadth of variants, and the music of the record seems to have taken a backseat to the sappy theatrics of the press run – whether it’s a radio interview or that t-shirt. The album’s gotta at least spin out one top 40 hit before we talk about the reinvigoration of her pop star pull. 

Jason Lipshutz: No — but that’s not the story that Gomez is trying to tell, or what she wants the album to represent. If Gomez wanted to seize the modern pop crown, she would have released a solo album full of radio-friendly gestures, instead of a swirling, slightly muted collaborative album with her fiancé designed as a peek through the keyhole into their relationship. Gomez has built her career in such a way that she doesn’t require hit singles to attract attention when she decides to return to music, and I Said I Love You First marks an idiosyncratic (and satisfying) check-in rather than any type of commercial bid.

Andrew Unterberger: I think it demonstrates what a big star she is in general, and how much people like her and want to see her do well. I don’t think she has the hitmaking clout she did a decade ago, and she probably won’t again, but she doesn’t seem to particularly care about that, nor should she. Regardless, any time she releases a new album for the remainder of her career — assuming that’s a thing she continues doing — it will absolutely be a major event for pop fans.

5. What’s another big-name artist-producer pop combo who you would like to see do a full album together? 

Rania Aniftos: Addison Rae as the artist with Charli XCX as the producer. Give us the full Y2K fantasy!

Stephen Daw: Give me an entire album of Sam Smith and Disclosure songs ASAP. “Latch” and “Omen” are two of my favorite songs in Smith’s discography, simply because their voice blends perfectly with Disclosure’s dance flourishes. A whole album of recession pop bops from these two would be a dream come true. 

Kyle Denis: I’ve needed this since 2019, and there’s still a chance it could happen with the final season of Euphoria, but I desperately need to hear a collaborative project between Zendaya and Labrinth. We’re also owed a joint EP from Ariana Grande and Cashmere Cat; “Be My Baby,” “Quit” and “Adore” have all held up beautifully. And because good things come in threes, I’ll also put in my bed for a Lorde-Disclosure project. “Magnets” is still a banger!

Jason Lipshutz: To think outside the box and stretch the definition of “producer” a bit: why haven’t we gotten any sort of collaboration between Adele and Rich Paul yet? Let’s get Adele at the NBA All-Star Halftime Show! Let’s have LeBron James deliver some spoken-word interludes on Adele’s next album! For fans of polished pop and professional basketball, the opportunities could be endless.

Andrew Unterberger: Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa have both fallen on somewhat hard times hit-wise — could a full-length team-up album be all it takes to have the pop world fall in love with them once more?