Charlie Puth Thought Taylor Swift's 'TTPD' Shoutout Was an AI-Generated 'Joke' Before Hearing the Song

"I'd say if it weren’t for Taylor and her mentioning me, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to put this out," Puth said of his new song, "Hero"

• Charlie Puth initially didn't believe he received a shoutout in Taylor Swift's recent song, "The Tortured Poets Department"

• The mention gave him "newfound courage" to release his new song, "Hero"

• "Hero" features more stripped-down production than he's used to putting out into the world

Charlie Puth found a hero in Taylor Swift!

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the "Attention" singer, 32, reflected on learning his name was dropped in Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" and why he initially brushed off the mention.

When a friend told him about the lyrics before the album's official release, Puth told Rolling Stone he thought the person was mistaken and that Swift, 34, had mentioned him in an interview.

His next thought was that it was an AI-generated "joke."

“I’m going to wake up tomorrow and it was just a big joke that someone was playing on me because someone thinks I shouldn’t be a bigger artist, so get the biggest artist since the Beatles to say that I should be a bigger artist. Ha ha ha,” he recalled thinking.

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Then, Puth heard "The Tortured Poets Department," on which Swift, 34, sings, “You smokеd, then ate seven bars of chocolate/We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist."

"It was surreal because it’s never good to look back, but I feel like I could have done things a little differently in the past, but it’s all meant to happen now,” he told the outlet about how the shout-out made him feel.

Thanks to the words of encouragement from Swift, Puth said he found the courage to release his latest single, "Hero," a raw song with more stripped-down production than he's used to releasing to the world.

"Just because all my stuff usually has so many f---ing layers, I’m like, 'Is this song too simple'?' There’s three sounds," he said. "I recorded this guitar with a f---ing iPhone. It’s the first time that’s happened to me where I didn’t feel the need to add more."

Related: Charlie Puth Thanks Taylor Swift for Encouraging Him to Release 'Hero': 'Never Put Out a Song Like This Before'

To Puth, the process was very Swift-like in the sense that it's an emotional story listeners need to pay attention to, rather than a perfect pop song with layered sounds added so anyone can bop along in their car.

The "Marvin Gaye" singer said he was scared to release "Hero" before Swift sang his name to the world.

"I’d say if it weren’t for Taylor and her mentioning me, I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to put this out, which is a big statement. I know," Puth confessed, of the song, which is about seeing someone you love making bad decisions and offering support, if not a life-saving solution.

The musician added that he normally wouldn't get so personal and "hyper specific" on a song, as Swift does often, especially on her latest album.

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Puth hasn't seen Swift in person since the song was released, but her wrote her a note saying, “This means more, and I will take this newfound courage to put this new body of work out.”

He was working on "Hero" before the shout-out, "but I was just unsure and it’s cool to get a stamp of approval from an artist that you have idolized for such a long time and still do."

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