Travie McCoy’s break-up with pop starlet Katy Perry in 2008 made tabloid headlines and provided fodder for gossip bloggers. But instead of pouring his heart out about the relationship, the “Billionaire” rapper is using the opportunity to poke fun at himself.

The Gym Class Heroes frontman is readying a mixtape with DJ Clinton Sparks named after his former girlfriend. “It’s in no way airing out my dirty laundry or in any way a personal shot to her,” McCoy tells staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud of the aptly titled Forgetting Katy Perry. “If anything, it’s making fun of myself.”

He further explained the title, which also pays homage to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the 2008 film starring Perry’s new fiancé Russell Brand. “The title is funny for the simple fact that that’s my life in a nutshell. I can watch [the movie] and be like, ‘That dude is me,'” he jokes. “There are a couple of songs on the mixtape that didn’t make the album and there are a lot of features.”

The music came from a place he’s most familiar with. “Me, personally as an artist, I just write about my life. Unfortunately, that involves going through break-ups. Sometimes it makes for really, really good music and sometimes it makes for sad and depressing shit.”

While he has become accustomed to the constant prodding about his ex, he doesn’t want the past to define him. “To an extent, I’m comfortable with discussing it, but when it becomes the main focus, I’m like, ‘Aight, let’s just keep going.’ This shit is out for public consumption anyway. In the beginning it was our relationship, but after a while it turned into everyone else’s relationship. On those gossip blogs, everyone has their views on our relationship. I’m over it.”

Expect the mixtape to precede McCoy’s solo debut album Lazarus, which arrives June 8, featuring the hit single “Billionaire” with Bruno Mars.

–Reporting by Rajul Punjabi