Why Mario Says He Would've Given Boyz II Men the Trophy If He Won "The Masked Singer "Season 12 (Exclusive)

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The "Let Me Love You" singer, who competed as Wasp, tells PEOPLE, "I still feel like I won," despite placing second behind the vocal group

• R&B star Mario competed on The Masked Singer season 12 as Wasp and came in second place to Boyz II Men
• Mario tells PEOPLE his Masked Ambassador NE-YO, who won season 10 of the show, advised him to "have fun out there"
• The "Let Me Love You" singer calls his hit song "timeless," but says he's matured since its release 20 years ago

Mario found his wings as  The Masked Singer's Wasp.

"It gave me a chance to be myself outside of myself," Mario, who placed second on season 12, tells PEOPLE. "There are a lot of [things] in the Wasp's life, like him having to constantly be on the move and being one of the bigger species of his kind, yet at the same time being vulnerable to other things in the world. It's really overall about just having fun and challenging myself and bringing to life this imaginary character."

The R&B star, 38, lost to Buffalos — aka Boyz II Men — on the Dec. 18 finale of The Masked Singer after singing "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars and Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight." Mario, who released his new album Glad You Came earlier this month, says he picked songs throughout the season hoping to "throw people off from knowing it was me."

Related: Every Winner of The Masked Singer: See Which Celebrities Took the Trophy

"I figured that maybe people would like be like, 'Wait, we thought that was Mario, but maybe that's whoever,'" he explains. "So, definitely wanted to mix it up and give them something different every performance. I think that it's always really important to continue to show people that there are no ceilings when it comes to your talent, and just reminding people that vocally, my gift moves far beyond singing R&B records or love songs"

The "Let Me Love You" singer shares how The Masked Singer created a "a full circle moment" for him, reveals how he prepped physically for the show and reflects on how he really feels about his breakout hit 20 years later.

PEOPLE: Congrats on making it to the finale! Did you come on The Masked Singer just hoping to have fun, or were you hoping to win?

MARIO: I think it's both. I feel like the Wasp energy is very confident, very vulnerable, confident and authentic. So, I think winning was definitely on our wings and we wanted to take it. And also have fun.

PEOPLE: What made you say "yes" when asked to go on The Masked Singer?

MARIO: The costume had a lot to do with it. I felt like I could portray that character and really bring it to life. And Halloween being my favorite holiday as well. But also, they had reached out a couple years ago and I wasn't able to do it because of travels. So, this was kind of like a full circle moment. It takes me back to the basics of how I started in music, my family being my fans and singing at birthday parties and at talent shows and things of that nature. I love performing, always doing shows and stuff, so this was a way for me to challenge myself and have fun at the same time.

PEOPLE:Were you able to see and move around inside the costume?

MARIO: It was harder for the dancing songs than it was for me just standing on stage and being emotional and trying to get the songs out the right way. But what I did was, every rehearsal, whether it was a slow song or a fast song, even though I could rehearse without my mask, I made sure I had it on. If we rehearse for an hour, it's under there for an hour because I wanted to get used to how it felt moving and my breathing. That took me a few days to get used to. But repetition is king. You keep repeating and repeating it and you really relax your mind and become one with it. Once I realized what the things were that were going to be difficult, I adapted to it. Then it became easier. I psyched myself out, basically.

PEOPLE: It's always better to have something be easier than you expected rather than the other way around.

MARIO: Very true. Which is why I'm like, you know what? Give me the mask and the tail, because the tail moves a lot. It's a long tail. So, I had to get used to dancing with that and not hitting people with my tail, stinging people with it.

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PEOPLE: Did your Masked Singer ambassador NE-YO give you any advice for the show?

MARIO: Yeah, we spoke a lot. NE-YO is a very straight-to-the-point person. He's just like, "Man, have fun out there. This is what you do. Just go out there and kill it." I asked him questions more so about the behind-the-scenes aspect of it, and it was exactly what he said. We literally had everything that we needed backstage, and they made it very comfortable for us before we go out there. It was very supportive, very fun.

PEOPLE: Did you have any other famous friends reaching out to you, suspecting you were on the show?

MARIO: Absolutely. Almost all of them. Lil Wayne did a post the other day about he knew who The Masked Singer was. He didn't say it was me. Tyga did one the other day. A lot of fans were DMing me and tagging me, especially over the past few weeks, Like, "Yo, we know you're the Wasp and we know you're going to win this." That's been cool.

PEOPLE: What was going through your head after Nick announced that it was Buffalos who won?

MARIO: It was very bittersweet for me because Boyz II Men was one of the first CDs that I stole out of my mom's CD pack when I was a kid to sing with my karaoke machine that she bought me. I sung their song to Clive Davis when I got signed. They're the reason when I was 14 I got signed to my first deal. So, for me, I was blown away because it was maybe the second before last performance that I knew for 1,000% it was them. And I was like, "I can't even believe this is happening. It's such a full circle moment." At that point, I wanted to win, but I may have given the trophy to them if I won because they're the reason I made it today in terms of their song and their music and their inspiration. So, I still feel like I won, honestly, because that was a win for me.

PEOPLE: You mentioned feeling your mom's presence before your final performance and wanting to make her proud. How do you continue to honor her since her death in 2017?

MARIO: My mom was the first person to discover that I loved music, and I think for her, it was a way to keep me away from the streets of Baltimore as a young kid. I didn't grow up with a dad. So, it was her way to stay close to me. She would make sure I had music instruments around, made sure I had a karaoke machine. She kept music in my face so much that I couldn't help but to adopt, to love it and use it as my medium every day. She started taking me to talent shows when I was old enough, and she really helped nurture that gift and to nurture the experience of it for me. I made my first money at a barbershop. I didn't want to sing. She literally made me sing at a barbershop when I was 8 or 10, and all the guys gave me $10 a piece and it was 10 chairs, so I made my first $100 at a barbershop

For me, it was like, okay, I can do this, for real, as a living. She told me, "As long as you're never afraid to sing, don't ever be afraid to your talent." So, when I would get those tough songs [on The Masked Singer] and I'm like, "Oh my God, can I pull off an Aretha Franklin song?" I could hear her voice in my head saying, "Don't be afraid to sing." So, she is with me still and she is the reason I'm here today.

Related: Nathan Morris Says Boyz II Men Came onto The Masked Singer Season 12 Hoping to 'Leave the First Show' (Exclusive)

PEOPLE: You talked on the show about not wanting to just be known for your hit song "Let Me Love You," which came out 20 years ago. What is your relationship with that song today?

MARIO: We go back to timeless music. We go back to music that when people hear it, it creates this nostalgic memory for them. But also, really maturing from that. I was 17 when I did that record. So, really just showing people the growth in my voice because a lot of people have only heard me on music like that and "Crying Out for Me" and "How Do I Breathe" and those other records that I have. They've never heard me sing an Aretha Franklin song or sing a big pop record, or challenge my voice in certain ways and show them I can do more than that, which is what God put me here for. God put us here to be as grand as we can be, so thanks to Masked Singer, I had the stage to be able to do that.

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The Masked Singer season 12 is streaming on Hulu.