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WHAT WOULD FANS BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? "How attentive I am. How weird I am. How much of a loner I am, but at that same time I've very social. How deep I am as a person and how deep I can go when it comes to relating or connecting with someone. I love animals. I have a dog. His name is Smoky. He's not a dog though —he's a human. I know a lot of people say that but sometimes it be too scary. 'You've been here before too!? We've both been here before, Smoky!'" He laughs. Mario is the quintessence of a musician when he arrives. The Grammy-nominated, Billboard chart-topping artist is wearing sunglasses (which he removes a couple of minutes into our chat), a long black, distressed tee that reveals a few of his tattoos, shredded light blue jeans, and layers of jewelry – necklaces, bracelets, and rings. The first words out of his mouth is that he likes this spot, which I'm happy to hear as I chose the location. To start his morning, he orders a mimosa and a chamomile tea. This September, Mario's 3-year hiatus came to an end with the release of his latest single, "I Need More." From his fifth studio album Paradise Cove (slated for release early next year), this was just a taste of his new sound. Mario rose to fame with songs that were basically "great conversations with women from a male's perspective" –with him singing hits like "Just a Friend" and swoon-worthy lyrics: "You should let me love you / Let me be the one to / Give you everything you want and need / Baby, good love and protection / Make me your selection / Show you the way love's supposed to be…" His new music was a departure from what his fans were used to and unfortunately, it left them needing more from him. "It was really hard to get my fans to like that record. I think people liked the video more than they liked the song… I look at it as a beautiful thing; it reminds me of where I can go, where I belong, and the level which I left off on. People still want and yearn for that realness, that soul. It's like, 'We hear some of that music today, but you're bigger than that...' And I respect that. I knew that was going to happen but I still wanted to do it just because I was having fun. I know my lane is more timeless, more classic." "I Need More" was inspired by a conversation with a close friend one night while they were out partying. Hungry for a more authentic life, at that time Mario needed more: more substance, more motivation. He needed a muse to push him to the next level. He found a few, but there's one lady in particular that is his "light bulb in the dark room." A girlfriend? He shifts in his chair, takes a sip of his mimosa, then laughs. "That word is too much pressure." He pauses. A big smile spreads across his face. "It's a girlfriend. She deserves for me to be honest right now," he says about this special lady he met through mutual friends at the club. She's very different from the other women he has dated, he tells me. Now, he's ready to conquer the world – musically and as an entrepreneur. Next year, Paradise Cove will be released under Mario's new label, New Citizen. It was during the creation of his fifth studio album in 2013 ("Somebody Else" featuring Nicki Minaj was the first single released) that Mario decided to part ways with that label. That album was never released. "I thought it was time for me to grow in a different way and I wanted to challenge myself… to reinvent myself on all levels: spiritually, mentally, musically. I knew it was a big risk, because now I'll be competing with the same labels that I was signed to, that I know give bigger budgets —but I was like, 'Ya know what? It's about the music.'" Paradise Cove will be a bit darker and edgier than his past albums. "I'm not afraid of being open anymore, more vulnerable, and more myself as an artist. This project is a little more me than my other ones, because I have more creative control," says Mario, the latter is the main reason he decided to go independent. In those three years out of the spotlight, half of his time was spent "negotiating out of this deal," while the other half was spent working on new music and just living life. His plan: "Get my foundation right and just come back swinging." During this time, Mario relocated from Los Angeles to Miami to "catch a vibe" and create. "That city was made for people who like living the fancy lifestyle, the fast lifestyle, the women and partying…" he says of the Magic City. Miami was fun but it wasn't conducive to him creating, so after a year and a half there, he decided it was best for him to get back to L.A. Was there pressure to return to music? "Absolutely! There's always pressure… I allow the pressure to motivate me instead of intimidate me. I'm from Baltimore. I don't know nothing but pressure," he says with a smile. He credits his grandmother, who passed away when he was 12, for teaching him many great life lessons, including how to deal with life's pressures. "I learned how important a foundation was from her, and how important a relationship with God was, and how important it was to work hard for what you wanted." The lifestyle that Mario had grown accustomed to no longer suited him. His desire to live more authentically, become more conscious and sensitive prompted him to make a number of changes: he became a vegan, started practicing yoga and doing exercises to unblock his cords. "Every time you have sex with a person or you're in a relationship with a person and you connect with them on all levels, you create cords together. These cords don't leave, unless you consciously detach yourself from that person so you don't carry that energy into the next relationship… Becoming more spiritually-conscious is more painful because you can feel it and you notice the different vibrational patterns and karmic patterns that you continue to create over and over. And I was like, 'I don't want that anymore.'" This detox also meant starving his ego. "If I'm going to sleep with a girl, it's going to be on my terms, not on my ego's