Nick Cannon‘s multiple jobs are essential to taking care of his 11 children. In an interview with Los Angeles Times, he revealed he needs to earn at least nine figures to maintain his lifestyle.

“When you think about my lifestyle, I have to generate at least $100 million a year,” Cannon said. He reveals he had children with six women because of their desires to be mothers and the belief that he could manage them all.

“A lot of them are in the same age group,” he said. “And I just wanted to give them what they desired. I kept saying, ‘I can handle it.’” His decisions, however, have resulted in him being “villainized” and called a deadbeat by those who think he can’t be present for all his children.

Nick says he has calendars for each child, brings his kids to meetings and drives them around, focusing on the quality of their dates rather than the amount of time he spends with them.

“It’s not about what I do for you or what I say to you, it’s about how you feel when I’m with you,” he said. “If you feel loved when you see your dad, that’s what’s gonna resonate.”

Nick is father to Moroccan, Monroe, Golden, Powerful Queen, Zion, Zillion, Legendary, Onyx, Rise, Beautiful and Halo; his son Zen passed away from brain cancer at five months old. The actor was recently criticized for struggling to remember all their names, but his ex-wife and mother of their 12-year-old twins, Mariah Carey, often checks on his well-being.

“She’s high frequency. She always asks me, ‘You aight? How you doin’?’ he said in an upcoming episode of The Jason Lee Show. “When we talk daily, she’s just checking in on my spirit.”

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