LONDON  –  Charlie Puth just talked about how he wanted to be “taken seriously” during his younger years and recalled how his personality has grown since he first found fame. The 34-year-old singer recalled the times of his early career following the release of his fourth studio album, Whatever’s Clever. Admitting that he was quite a different person before, he told Variety: “[BOY, his 2018 song] is a song that I wrote when I was 26 and I felt at the time that I wasn’t being taken seriously by somebody.”  “As a young man, I was hot-headed and I wanted to prove them wrong. I should be taken seriously. I’m pretty cool, is what I would tell myself,” the See You Again singer added. Charlie, who performed the Star-Spangled Banner to open the Super Bowl earlier this year, insists that he has matured significantly since those early days in the music business. “I think I’ve definitely changed as a person,” he said.  However, the singer gave credit to those carefree and combative experiences as they helped him create his most personal work yet, his latest album, Whatever’s Clever! Charlie explained: “I’m thankful for those songs because I don’t think there would be I Used to Be Cringe. I don’t believe I would have ended up singing in that way and about that topic had it not been for those songs that preceded it.”

The record, which features collaborations with Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Kenny G and Jeff Goldblum, marks the singer’s deliberate shift away from his signature pop sounds in previous albums. “I wanted things not to be so pristine on this fourth album. I didn’t want to remove the emotion,” Charlie Puth further explained as he talked about his album, Whatever’s Clever.