As Mario is still adjusting to one of the biggest blessings of his life, he’s diving deeper into a more difficult part of his upbringing.
During a conversation with Angela Yee on her “Way Up With Yee” show, the “Let Me Love You” singer opened up about being away from his son while he’s on Chris Brown and Usher’s “R&B Tour” and how raising his son offered a contrast to his early relationship with his father, who wasn’t around.
However, their relationship changed after the death of Mario’s mother, Shawntia Hardaway, in 2017.
“It wasn’t until my mother’s funeral that I actually felt like, damn, he was the only person in that moment when her casket was closing that could console me,” Mario told Yee around the nine-minute mark of the appearance. “Even though he wasn’t in my life, it was like losing a parent and just knowing that you at least you got … it was a spiritual thing.”
He added, “He was the only person that could hug me and say, ‘You are not alone.’ It was in that moment I said, ‘I gotta rekindle this relationship, because I got one parent left.’”
During the interview, Mario revealed that his father went through a mental health episode when he was a teenager and the things he’s learned in recent years have given him a different outlook. When asked if there was any resentment or anger toward his father, Mario shook his head.
“It’s not anger or resentment because I didn’t know what I was missing,” he said. “I think it’s more about being able to relate.”
He added, “I think a lot of times we’re more similar than we think to our parents. Even the ones we don’t spend time with. Something has to be there to ignite the relationship; you gotta be open to it. After that, you’ll find that space where you’ll feel like, ‘This was a good decision.’”
Mario has long been outspoken about his relationship with his father and how it shaped his relationships with other men as he was growing up and as he learned to love himself. With his son, Mario is still finding ways to be present, even while on the road, FaceTiming his son and checking in whenever he can. But he readily admits that hitting the road for a massive tour has offered complications.
“That was probably the hardest decision to make, right? Because I didn’t grow up with my dad,” he said. “So, I know that even though me and my dad are closer now, those moments psychologically you like you don’t know if you’re you messing up or not because you don’t know … the good thing about this tour, the way it’s routed, we get like four days off here, three days off there, so I get to go home.”
