Only rival Cristiano Ronaldo has won the same number of awards as Messi, although he still believes it is down to the work of his teammates at Barcelona.
"It is a beautiful recognition and perhaps the most special was the first," he told Otro.
"It is something that comes from the collective. Without having achieved all the collective successes that we had to achieve, I wouldn't have been able to get these individual awards."
Messi will again be among the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or this year, having enjoyed a fine 2019 for Barcelona.
The Argentine scored a remarkable 51 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in 2018-19, as the club secured the La Liga title while falling short in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
After an injury-plagued start to the 2019-20 season, Messi has begun to round into form, having netted nine times in all competitions for the Blaugrana so far.
Barcelona, who are top of La Liga, return to action with a trip toLeganeson Saturday.
The Blaugrana follows that match up with a Champions League encounter against Borussia Dortmund four days later.
