Timbaland is opening up about how being a dad kept him steady while navigating fame and success. The four-time Grammy-winning producer joined his daughter Reign Mosley on her podcast Reign Check on August 13th, where the two spoke openly about family, growth, and what fatherhood really means. Timbaland, born Timothy Mosley, shares Reign with his ex-wife Monique Idlett, whom he divorced in 2013 after ten years of marriage. He also has two sons, Demetrius and Frankie, from earlier relationships.

When Reign asked about how parenthood influenced his view of success, Timbaland explained that fatherhood didn’t necessarily change his outlook, but it gave him a deeper sense of purpose. “It didn’t really shift my perspective on fatherhood. It probably made me have a more respect for fatherhood,” he told her. “It kind of gave my success a purpose in a way. I really think it was needed.”

He added that being a parent grounded him during moments when the pressures of fame could have become overwhelming. “Fatherhood was needed in my life because success could have destroyed me because you get caught up in so many things,” he said. “God will place things that you don’t know that you need in your life and fatherhood was the thing that I needed to balance success. Because if I didn’t, I could have been destroyed.”

Earlier this year, Timbaland spoke on The Pivot Podcast about battling opioid addiction and revealed that his family played a vital role in helping him stay alive. He previously shared with Men’s Health that his dependency on OxyContin and Percocet began after dental surgery in 2011. Looking back, he said on The Pivot Podcast, “Then looking at your kids and really saying, like, ‘I have value in this world.’ I love my kids to death…That’s what I work for.”