genre pop

Fans who can’t get enough of Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco‘s I Said I Love You First have more to explore with a newly released version of the album, I Said I Love You First – Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez.
As Gomez explained on Sunday (March 23) in posts on social media, “benny and I made so many amazing memories throughout the process of creating our new album. I wanted to let you guys in on some of those stories and the making of these songs. I Said I Love You First – Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez is available for digital download on my official store now!”

Partners in music and romance (the couple announced their engagement in December), Gomez and Blanco unveiled their joint album — the follow-up to Gomez’s 2020 set, Rare, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 that year — on Friday, March 21. I Said I Love You First‘s full release was preceded by singles including “Call Me When You Break Up” featuring Gracie Abrams and “Sunset Blvd.”

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Also new from Gomez and Blanco this weekend is a surprise release of a bonus track, with a title that should sound familiar to longtime fans.

Some time pre-Rare, but after 2015’s Revival, Gomez was brewing up music that never saw a release. From that era is a song called “Stained,” originally produced by Blanco, and first teased in 2016 when the singer shared a snippet. The track eventually leaked in full on the internet, but didn’t make the cut on either of Gomez’s next two albums.

“Eight years later and you guys never forgot about this song,” she wrote to fans over the weekend. “Your love for Stained has never gone away and I wanted to do something special to say thank you for all the love and support on the album. Stained is now available exclusively on my official store for a limited time only.”

In a livestream that was recorded bya fan over the weekend, Gomez gave listeners (and Blanco, who was on the stream with her) some background on what had happened with “Stained,” saying, “You know, I actually loved that song and I was nervous … I remember I was still nervous to curse in a song. I don’t know what happened. I’m sure I leaked it on accident, or I did something. But it got out, and I’m kind of happy that it did.”

I Said I Love You First – Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez is available as a digital download for $5 on Gomez’s webstore here. A digital download of her I Said I Love You First album with bonus track “Stained” is also priced at $5, and it can be found on Gomez’s webstore here.

See Gomez’s TikTok clips below to catch her singing along to “Stained.” She also shares details about the narrated version of I Said I Love You First, noting, “Basically I get to tell a little story about each song on the album, so I can explain it to you guys and you can see how I view them. I’d love to know your thoughts as well and how you relate to it all.”

@selenagomez Eight years later and you guys never forgot about this song 🖤 Your love for Stained has never gone away and I wanted to do something special to say thank you for all the love and support on the album. Stained is now available exclusively on my official store for a limited time only #Stained ♬ original sound – Selena Gomez

@selenagomez benny and I made so many amazing memories throughout the process of creating our new album. I wanted to let you guys in on some of those stories and the making of these songs. I Said I Love You First – Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez is available for digital download on my official store now! #ISaidILoveYouFirst ♬ original sound – Selena Gomez

Justin Bieber is giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his upcoming album.
On Saturday (March 22), the 31-year-old pop star shared a video on Instagram of himself jamming with fellow musicians in a spacious room filled with music equipment and a pool table, all while overlooking stunning outdoor views.

“I think I hate myself sometimes when I feel myself start to become inauthentic,” Bieber captioned the nearly three-minute clip. “Then I remember we’re all being made to think we’re not enough but I still hate when I change myself to please people.”

In the video, Bieber sports a yellow beanie while immersing himself in a trippy, experimental jam session with an eclectic mix of mind-bending electronic sounds. The “Sorry” singer tagged several other musicians and friends in his Instagram Stories, including singer-songwriter Jensen McRae, pastor Judah Smith, Josh Mehl, DJ Taylor James, producer Camper, and others.

Bieber’s post also drew a supportive comment from frequent Prince collaborator Sheila E. “DONT EVER SAY U HATE URSELF!!!!!!!!!!! call auntie Sheila. Let’s talk,” the Grammy-winning drummer wrote.

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Earlier that day, the “Peaches” hitmaker shared another reflective post on Instagram, writing, “I got anger issues too, but I wanna grow and not react so much smh.” The message included three photos: a close-up selfie of him in a hoodie, an image from his childhood, and a photo of what appears to be his baby son, Jack Blues, lying on a blanket in front of a large screen.

On March 16, the singer opened up on Instagram Stories about his journey toward letting go of hate. In an all-caps message, he wrote, “I WAS ALWAYS TOLD WHEN I WAS A KID NOT TO HATE … BUT IT MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WASNT ALLOWED TO HAVE IT AND SO I DIDN’T TELL ANYONE IVE HAD IT.”

The Grammy winner’s recent social media posts followed another vulnerable message on March 13, where he admitted to feeling “unequipped and unqualified most days.” In recent weeks, Bieber has been candid with fans about the need to “grow up,” revealing in February that he was working on “letting go and remembering the weight isnt on me to change.”

Bieber hasn’t released an album since 2021’s Justice, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. This year, the star has teased new music, sharing occasional studio photos on Instagram.

Taylor Swift is all about Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s I Said I Love You First.
On Saturday (March 22), just a day after its release, the 35-year-old pop superstar took to her Instagram Stories to praise the newly engaged couple’s joint album.

“@selenagomez & @itsbennyblanco I LOVE THIS ALBUM SO MUCH,” Swift wrote, sharing a screenshot of the album on Spotify along with a link to purchase the set.

I Said I Love You First includes previously released songs such as “Scared of Loving You,” “Sunset Blvd,” “Younger and Hotter Than Me” and “Call Me When You Break Up,” featuring Gracie Abrams. The full tracklist also features “Ojos Tristes,” “Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Cowboy,” “Bluest Flame,” “How Does It Feel to Be Forgotten,” “Do You Wanna Be Perfect,” “You Said You Were Sorry,” “I Can’t Get Enough” and “Don’t Take It Personally.”

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Leading up to the album, Gomez spoke about working with her fiancé in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, sharing, “It just felt like it was a little taste of what we are and how we made this together, and how much we loved it and how much we love each other. And it just felt like it was meant to be.”

The couple began dating in June 2023 and got engaged late last year. Gomez shared the happy news with a Dec. 11 Instagram carousel featuring her marquise-cut engagement ring, along with the caption, “forever begins now.”

Gomez has also opened up about sharing her music with Swift. In 2019, she recalled showing her first Hot 100 No. 1 hit, “Lose You to Love Me,” to her pop superstar bestie, noting that it brought both her and her mother, Andrea Swift, to tears.

“It’s gonna make me cry thinking about it,” Gomez said. “Because it wasn’t just about how great the song was, which is a lot coming from her, it was just that they had been on that journey with me, intimately. And they were crying because of how proud they were for me stepping into a whole new era of my life, and it not involving the horrible things, the abuse, the emotional chaos, it felt like I had a huge sigh of relief.”