Lil Nas X Credits Camila Cabello for ‘Getting My Confidence Back’

Sometimes it takes your bestie to get you out of a funk. In his cover story interview with Paper Magazine, Lil Nas X shared that it was Camila Cabello who helped him find his confidence to kick off his Dreamboy era.

“We did a great job at uplifting each other and showing each other how we view the situation and how we view each other from outside of ourselves,” Lil Nas X told the outlet. “Once you made up your mind: ‘Oh, the world doesn’t see me as something great or feels like I’ve done anything amazing.‘” 

He added, “To hear [affirmation] from somebody who you greatly respect and you love what they’ve done, it feels great, especially because you can feel like it comes from a genuine place, and not like someone trying to get something from you.”

Last summer, Lil Nas joined Cabello for C, XOXO single “He Knows,” which came with a hilarious music video of the pair of besties fighting over the same man.

“It was fun hanging out with Camila, because that was the beginning of me getting comfortable going out to places. It was just genuine fun. It didn’t feel like work,” Lil Nas said. “Camila made me feel so good, she made me feel so great. And that was the beginning of me getting my confidence back. To finally be at this place, where I’m like, ‘OK, I know who the fuck I am. I know where I’m going. I don’t care what none of these bitches say. I didn’t care at first. Why do I care now?’”

In late May, Cabello caught up with Rolling Stone and said the pair of musicians had a “trauma bond” after getting stuck in an elevator for hours before a club appearance in West Hollywood. “People were dropping like flies emotionally, but me and Nas, we were cracking jokes — but were low-key terrified,” Cabello said.

During the interview, Cabello said she and Nas have been “supportive of each other for years” but that they are now closer than ever. “He is unapologetically himself.  He’s a true, fucking great artist,” Cabello said at the time. “He’s the kind of artist where it’s more than just the song. He puts thought and care into the performance. He plays with the fans. He cares about the music video and making a statement.”