Camila Cabello Says She Had 'Tears Brimming' in Her Eyes After Beyoncé Told Her She Loved Her Album: 'That's the Gold Star'

Camila Cabello grabbed the attention of one of her idols with her latest album, C,XOXO.

Although the pop star's experimental body of work was met with harsh criticism on social media after its June release, Cabello, 27, recalled the special moment she shared with Beyoncé at Michael Rubin's annual White Party that made her feel more confident about taking risks.

"She was like, 'I love your new album.' I think I said something like, 'I literally would not be here without you,'" the former Fifth Harmony member said of speaking with the "CUFF IT" vocalist, 43.

"Oh, f---, now I’m going to sound name-drop-y," Cabello admitted. “But Beyoncé told me she loved my album, OK? That’s the gold star. And I walked away fully, like, tears brimming in my eyes. She’s somebody I’ve watched from my childhood. Her and Taylor [Swift] saying nice things about the album really meant a lot to me. Anytime an artist that I respect has said something to me like, ‘Hey, I really love what you’re doing,’ it recharges my battery. A lot of the time I felt so misunderstood.”

When the "Havana" hitmaker dropped her first single "I LUV IT" in March, the track was met with comparisons to Charli XCX, leading her to be accused of not having a unique vision. "I said something like 'elements of hyperpop' [somewhere]," she said. "I hate that I said that because people ran with this thing before the album was even out."

"She’s one of my favorite artists, you know?” — but there’s more to the album," Cabello noted of the "360" musician, 32. "This was a hard album cycle for me. It was really challenging from an audience point of view. I wrote this whole album, and people are questioning my authenticity. It’s kind of like a trippy thing. Like, this came from my gut.”

Despite the backlash, the Rob Peace actress wouldn't change how risky she went in this era. “My favorite albums are kind of polarizing. Not all people understand it, but the people that love it? Really love it. Even when I felt misunderstood, it felt like people were more passionate about my music than they have been in a while. And that’s cool. I feel like that’s what my favorite artist is," she pointed out.

"It was so much easier for people to put me into the box of ‘Havana,’” Cabello added of her previous bop. “I also listen to Lana [Del Rey] and Playboi Carti and The 1975. That’s harder for you to understand. Maybe that’s why people were like, ‘I don’t get [C,XOXO].’ Maybe [the ‘Havana’] version of me was easier for you to digest, but that doesn’t mean that’s all of me.”

Nylon conducted the interview with Cabello.