Travie McCoy’s Billionaire song with singer Bruno Mars was smash hit when it was released in 2010. Despite the success of their collaboration, the Gym Class Heroes band member recently revealed that he hasn’t heard from Mars, 40, in a while.
Speaking with PEOPLE, McCoy, 44, initially touched on how he linked up with Mars, whose real name is Peter Eugene Hernandez, to make the song. McCoy revealed that he and fellow musician T-Pain were working on music before he was introduced to Mars.
The rapper stated that at the time, his A&R rep spoke about The Smeezingtons, which was a Los Angeles writing-producing team comprising Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine. McCoy said his A&R rep said that the trio loved the Gym Class Heroes’ music.
“I can’t remember the first song they played me, but they played me a rough demo of ‘Billionaire,'” he recalled. “And the original top line was part of it, ‘I want to be on the cover of Forbes Magazine standing next to Diddy and the Queen.’”
READ ALSO: Father of 12 Nick Cannon says Bruno Mars has more hits than Beyonce, sparking debate
McCoy, however, said that he changed the “Diddy” line. “I’ve never been to [Diddy’s] White Party but I was like, ‘Bruno, I don’t want to say Diddy’s name every night. He’s like, ‘Alright, cool, easy fix.’ So he changes it to Oprah,” he explained.
McCoy added: “And I’m so glad I made him change that s—, because I’m sure…I probably wouldn’t have been subpoenaed, but my fans would have probably been asking questions. You know what I’m saying?”
He continued: “I don’t want to stand next to Diddy in anything.”
McCoy, however, said that he and Mars haven’t spoken in a while. “He doesn’t return my calls,” he said.
READ ALSO: Jay-Z defends decision to pick Bad Bunny to headline Super Bowl Halftime Show
