Camila Cabello‘s 2024 album, C, XOXO, was divisive: Some enjoyed the musical risks she took, some didn’t like it and others didn’t understand it. But according to Camila, as long as Beyoncé likes it, she’s good.

Speaking to NYLON, Camila says she went to a party this summer and ran into Queen Bey, who told her, “I love your new album.” Recalling the moment, Camila says, “Beyoncé told me she loved my album, O.K.? 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.”

And Bey wasn’t the only one, either. “Her and Taylor [Swift] saying nice things about the album really meant a lot to me,” Camila continues. “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.”

“This was a hard album cycle for me. It was really challenging from an audience point of view,” Camila tells NYLON about the response to her music. “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.”

“I can tell that people saying this weren’t even listening to the music. They didn’t do the reading. They didn’t do the listening,” she adds.

But she’s made her peace with it, she reveals.

“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.”

C, XOXO also made Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 best albums of 2024.

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