All Episodes

September 11, 2025 7 mins

Killer Mike addresses his lifestyle changes that resulted in him losing more than 100 pounds. He stresses the importance of his ‘power hour’ - the first hour of the day when he meditates, exercises and prioritizes his well being. Saying he started to see too many of his friends die, he realized his need to get his diet under control to be around for a long time for his children.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey, it's Graham. Our past in depth guests have
shared so many inspirational stories about overcoming
adversity and tackling the darkest and most challenging
times in their lives. We're sharing one of those
moments in today's Thursday podcast in the hope that it
provides A blueprint for any difficulties you might be facing
this week. Killer Mike So as part of the

(00:26):
prep for this interview, I was reading some of the recent
stories and it talked about, youknow, weight loss and how you've
been really committed. To that, I still do my $3 when
I'm in a day and I've started back lifting with a guy named Al
Claiborne. But you know, really it's, it's
hard when you're on the road. It's hard to because it requires
a certain amount of consistency.So just the eating habits I got
now over £50. Now I'm looking to get off

(00:49):
another 50-60 Al I'm back home after I go to London.
I'm back home for the rest of the winter.
So I'll be lifting, you know, 3-4 days a week.
So yeah, I still do it. But mainly it's, it's the, it's
the power hour. I get up and I can just be by
myself. This really one of the only
times a day I'm just alone. So whether I'm at, you know,
whether I'm at the track puttingin my 3 miles or whether I'm in
the gym just with Al, it's kind of the only alone time I have in

(01:10):
the day. But I think I'm actually going
to make more of a family event of the three miles.
Really. Yeah, just because my
daughter's, I like spending timewith them and both of them have
expressed interest in cutting a few pounds.
So I'm like, there's no easier way to just adjust our eating
habits, so let's eat something healthy together and let's just
do a 5K. What made you realize you wanted
to commit yourself to that? Start seeing die.

(01:34):
Yeah, I'm just like, I'd like tobe around a while, you know?
Was there somebody's passing that just.
Too many back-to-back to back. And it was all the stuff that's
controllable where you talk about heart disease, talk about
diabetes, you talk about, you know, just just just being too
sedentary. Just it's just, I've gotten too,
you don't start realizing like you're eating off emotion.

(01:54):
And then it's some of it is not that you can't eat, it's the
time you're eating because you keep a bad schedule as a
musician and stuff like that. So it's just kind of reframing,
you know, And then I've always been active.
So when it got to the point where I'd tweak a knee or
something, like, even though I've been a big kid, you know,
for most of my life, I've never not been an active kid.
But when it starts affecting my ability to be active on stage, I
didn't like that feeling, You know, I mean, I'm just going to
keep going. You just, you're just every day,

(02:16):
man. It's, it's, it's simpler when
you just look at it like, what am I going to do today?
So to know the day, I know I'm going to put, I know I'm going
to put a few miles in today. I know I'm going to do light
lifting for 20-30 minutes today.I know I'm going to only eat
these things. You just see how I feel and you,
whatever I do that feels good, Ikeep doing.
Do you find it's more motivatingto continue as you see the
results? Yeah, I have been like, I've,

(02:37):
I've, I had gotten up to a 5X. I'm down to a 3X, you know what
I'm saying? I'd like to, I'd like to see
what a 1X feels like. You know what, what motivates me
ultimately is that I got 4 kids and I'd like to, I'd like to
hang around with them as long asI can because I like them.
You know, that's what motivates me.
Because your grandpa had a heartattack.
Yeah, but he was. He had one in 87, but he quit
like he had one in 87 and he quit everything.

(02:59):
Quitting everything. Like he was a smoker.
He smoked Camels without the filters.
He drank beer. And when the doctors, you know,
told him that, you know, this will leave further than this, he
just stopped and never saw my grandfather pick up another
cigarette of beer. But I saw my grandfather
radically change his life because he wanted he promised
us. He he said he told my sister
they were crying. He said, I'll be here to y'all,
y'all graduate. Don't worry.

(03:20):
He didn't die until my youngest sister Lashawn to graduate.
And he died on a fishing trip doing something he loved doing.
You know what I mean? So, you know, a storm came in
out of nowhere, flipped their boat, you know, just by the time
he had made it to the bank, his his heart was giving out on him.
But that's my man. What lifestyle changes did did
you make? Not just eating, eating less
bread and that's that's prepped in a box and like easy stuff as

(03:42):
a musician, you're running around, you're eating where you
can, you're grabbing pizza afterthe show, that type stuff.
Now I just just give me a chicken breast or a steak from
the steak house early and just give me something green, give me
some experiments, give me something.
It was interesting because I sawa few other entertainers do it.
Like, I came to Mar after his show and he had chicken and
broccoli, you know what I'm saying?
And it was just, I was just like, oh, OK, so this guy's old.

(04:03):
He still, he still hangs around,smokes marijuana and knows young
girls. So maybe I should eat chicken
and broccoli too? OK.
And the weed front, you said you've curbed that a little bit
as well or like the time of day that?
You'll yeah, I don't smoke all day anymore and I don't smoke
like 1/4 or 1/2 ounce a day anymore.

(04:23):
Oz 28 grams, 1/2 ounce 14g quarter 7g right.
Right now I'll probably do about33 grams.
In that you've noticed a positive difference.
Yeah, you know, think more clearly, move more efficiently.
Not that marijuana's help. Marijuana's more than helpful
when I'm in the studio. It's just kind of, you know,
it's a for me, you know, if. But I, I don't do harder drugs.

(04:44):
You know, now I realized my mother had suffered an
addiction. So I don't, I don't play with,
you know, hard drugs. So I understand you don't sleep
enough. Yeah, everybody says that.
I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. I get 5 good hours in a night
and a great night at 7. I'm pushing as I'm as I'm
getting healthier, I'm I'm learning that that's a big part
of health that the rest part. And I've always felt so

(05:07):
restless. Like right now I'm talking to
you, my fingers doing this. I just, I've always felt
restless and not even in a bad way, just like I want to be
doing something but I've never never felt a capacity or want to
sleep a lot. But I'm understanding how
important it is. So what are the typical hours
you're awake? If I get to bed early, I get to
bed at 2:00 AM and I get back upat 10, OK, you know, and.

(05:31):
What if you how? How often do you get to bed
early? And how often, don't you?
Not too often. I usually get to bed about four
and I'm back up. I'm back up at 9:30, ten
o'clock. It's like when the rest of the
world is asleep, my mind is awake.
I got ideas that come. I got song ideas, I got car
ideas, you know, So I'm, there'ssomething about my mom, like I

(05:51):
missed the nice man because thiswould be the time that I talk to
my mom, you know, and I, I don't, can't talk to her
anymore. So I just talk to God.
But yeah, those, I call it the God hour, you know, that's when
everyone's asleep, you know, Muslims are praying.
You know what I'm saying? I think part of me never got out
of habit. I'll pray and meditate before I
go to bed, you know? And I've been told that up until

(06:14):
3:00 PM, you can't confidently be sure you'll get a hold of
you. Yeah.
So take me through that. Well, when I do get up, the
first hour is your power hour. That's when you you got to
meditate. You got to see what the day is
going to be. And that's the time I do take to
move my body. I don't care if it's just, you
know, doing moving around the yard, the driveway, hitting the

(06:34):
track or going to lift. But that first hour too, I just
need from me. And then, you know, I like to
sit around and give things in the morning or afternoon, like
whether it's the people that I love or the things that I need
to, I like to give that a couplehours to so, But you know, after
two or three, I like, I like moving when traffic ain't moving
with two or three people at their jobs.

(06:55):
So I can I go see my therapist at 3:00 because I don't like
moving in regular hours. I don't like, I don't like.
It just never worked for me. One quick favor before you
leave, please consider giving the podcast a rating and review.
Those go a long way in helping us reach new listeners.
Thanks for your support.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.