"Deserved a zero" — Netizens react to Pitchfork rating Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco's "I Said I Love You First" 5.9 out of 10

Online music magazine Pitchfork recently rated Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's collaborative album, I Said I Love You First, 5.9 out of 10. The album was released on March 21, 2025, around five years after Gomez's previous album, Rare.

I Said I Love You First is the first collaborative album by Gomez and Blanco, released three months after the couple announced their engagement in December 2024. In its review published on March 25, Pitchfork described the album's songs as "serviceable, pastiched pop songs," writing:

"The collaboration between the singer and her producer fiancé has big romantic appeal but mostly contains serviceable, pastiched pop songs that reveal little about their love story."

Pitchfork's rating of Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's newest album was met with mixed responses from netizens. One X user expressed their dislike for the album, saying it deserved a zero.

"Deserved a zero," the user tweeted.

Some netizens echoed this sentiment, claiming the album was rated higher than they expected.

"Deserved less but okay," one person wrote.

"Surprised it was rated that high," another person added.

"Damn, even Pitchfork was feeling generous today," someone else commented.

However, others criticized Pitchfork for the low rating, dubbing the online magazine a "joke."

"We don’t care about pitchfork, stop giving them attention," one X user posted.

"Pitchfork is a joke," someone else commented.

"Pitchfork is trippin. That’s a good album. Wonderful writing," another user wrote.

One user on X called the rating "harsh," while another claimed the album was more about the "vibes" than the numbers.

"Sometimes the best tracks aren’t about the numbers, it’s about the vibe it gives you," a person tweeted.

"5.9 feels harsh selena and benny brought some real vibes to this one. anyone else think it deserves more love?" someone else questioned.

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone rated I Said I Love You First 3.5 stars out of five, calling it an "adorable Valentine album."

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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco released a narrated version of their new album

On March 23, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco took to social media to announce a new variant of their latest album, this time including narration by Gomez. The variant, titled I Said I Love You First – Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez, has the singer tell stories about the songs on the record.

“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," Selena Gomez wrote on social media.

According to Billboard on March 23, she explained in another post:

“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.”

Along with the new variant, Selena Gomez also released a bonus track titled Stained, which she and Blanco teased in 2016 but never officially released. While the track was later leaked on the internet, it was not included in Gomez's 2020 album, Rare.

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I Said I Love You First saw Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco collaborate with their peers like Finneas (Billie Eilish's older brother), Charli XCX, and Gracie Abrams. Finneas worked as a producer on Scared of Loving You and Younger & Hotter Than Me.

Meanwhile, Abrams was featured in the track Call Me When You Break Up, and Charli XCX lent her vocals for Bluest Flame. Other features include Tainy and J Balvin on I Can’t Get Enough, The Marías on Ojos Tristes, and GloRilla on Cowboy.