But this is my dad we’re talking about, you know? He wasn’t gonna go quietly.

He was like, intent to have some success outside of me, and so he took all the money that was his share of our whole thing together—which, like, you gotta remember, was a couple million bucks at that point—and he started developing other acts. He was just basically going around the country, like, going to college vocal programs, watching singing competitions on TV and all of that shit, and just finding people, flying them out to L.A. and like, basically training them to be pop stars, making these little bets on them and hoping they would pay off. He was essentially, I mean, he was essentially trying to find another me, but like, one that he could control. And I would hear about what he was doing because, you know, at that point, the tabloids had obviously picked up on my parents’ divorce, and my dad had become this kind of joke. Like, all these memes were being made about him like, making fun of his desperate quest to prove that he could do something without me, and like, every bet he made just lost. Every person he tried to groom into his perfect little Frankenstein performer just never panned out.

And then finally, like, a year or so after I released the second album—which fucking killed by the way—in the middle of probably the greatest time in my career so far up to that point, I read online that my dad had just gone totally bankrupt—he lost his entire share of our fortune. And at that point like, obviously, MY fortune had increased tenfold, but my dad had totally drained his piece of the original pie. And what I read online was that he was actually looking for work again—like, he was actually going around to radio stations and trying to be a sound engineer again—but nobody was hiring him because they had changed a lot of the equipment and it didn’t work the same way anymore. Plus, like, everyone sort of knew who he was, and they didn’t want to be associated with that kind of embarrassment.

And so I just thought, like: Okay. I’ve gotta reach out to him. Like, I’ve gotta look out for my dad. I’m not gonna let him STARVE over some beef between us about some songs I made with fucking Deez Soundzz. And so I called his cell phone—he hadn’t changed his number—and he picked up, and I was like: Hey, Dad, what’s up? Where are you now? And he was like: Hey, kiddo, I’m in New Mexico. And I was like: Oh, cool. What are you doing there? And he was like: I don’t know. I don’t know. And I was like: Okay, well, why don’t you come back to L.A.? Let me put you up for a bit? And he was like: Yeah. Okay. I’d like that. And I was like: Dope. Perfect. I’m buying you a plane ticket right now. And he was like: Okay. I love you, kiddo. And I was like: Great, yeah, I love you too. And he was like: How’s your mother doing? Is she okay? And I was like: Yeah, yeah, she’s doing great. And he was like: Is she seeing anybody? Is she dating? And I was like, in my head, like: Shit, okay, I guess I have to tell him. And he was like: Hmm? How’s she doing? And I was like: Yeah, Dad, she’s, um … She’s actually getting married again. And he was like: What? What are you talking about? And I was like: Yeah, she’s getting married. It’s not public yet, but it’s happening. And he was like: Whoa. Shit. Who’s she marrying? And I was like: Let’s talk about it when you get here. I’m psyched to see you. And he was like: Come on, man, who? And I was just like: Fuck, man, I really don’t wanna get into this right now. And he was just like: WHO? Who? And I was just like: Bob. Bob Winstock. She’s marrying Bob Winstock. And then he hung up the phone.