Charlie Puth opened up about how a lyric in a Taylor Swift song inspired his new album Whatever's Clever!
It can be recalled that Charlie got an unexpected shoutout in Taylor's track "The Tortured Poets Department."
In the said song, Taylor sings the line: "We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist."
"That's the lyric that inspired this album," Charlie revealed in an interview with TODAY’s Willie Geist.
Explaining how the lyric influenced his new record, he pointed out, "'Bigger artist' means you have to open up. That's why millions of people can relate to [Taylor]. And I always felt like I kind of put a cap on how many people could relate to me and that's a scary thing to open that can of worms."
The singer added, "It would be the advice that I would pass down to other artists, too. It's a good push to hear that in a song."
Meanwhile, in a previous interview with Rolling Stone, Charlie shared his reaction when he heard his name referenced for the first time in "The Tortured Poets Department."
"It was pretty shocking. I don't know if that was like the moment where I realized that I needed to write a certain kind of music, but it was definitely affirming that one of the biggest stars in the world knows me," he remarked.
Charlie Puth reacts to unexpected shoutout from Taylor Swift in 'The Tortured Poets Department' song
Reflecting further on the lyric, the singer-songwriter explained how he interpreted Taylor's words. "I understood exactly what she meant to be a 'bigger artist.' I think you have to let people in a little bit more and maybe to your point, I hadn't let people in as much as I should have in the beginnings of my career," he stated.
Whatever's Clever! is set to be released on March 27.
It's lead single "Changes" was released on August 6, 2025.
Charlie announced that he was expecting his first child with his wife, Brooke Sansone, in the music video for "Changes" by showing the latter's baby bump in a portion of the video.