2 Chainz: Daily Routine

On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore their routines, schedules, habits and day in the life.

When you think about the lifestyle of a successful rapper, you’re probably imagining something straight out of a Bad Boy music video, circa-1997. You know, flashy cars and nightclubs, models and champagne. Maybe a yatch. You would figure that’s especially true for a rapper with a single like “Birthday Song” where the only thing he wishes for is a woman with an amply-shaped behind.

What you probably don’t imagine is a rapper who intermittent fasts, preaches the importance of staying hydrated and grows vegetables in his backyard.

When he’s not rapping in the studio, performing live on stage or sampling the “Most Expensivest Shit” with GQ, the Atlanta rapper, real name Tauheed Epps, is usually thinking about his diet. “My style of eating has changed, because in order to do what I do, you have to eat a certain way,” he told Hot 97. His 2013 album, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time, even came with a cookbook, produced with his personal chef, Chef Aleem.

I just try to eat properly to prevent me from getting sick, and so a couple of those things that I need to do is not get too full, not get too hungry. I don’t eat any beef or pork. My mentality is what you put in is what you get out. It’s like a receipt.

2 Chainz stops by NOW | MSNBC

Still, some things just never change and 2 Chainz can’t help but keep rapper hours. This means going to sleep at 7am and starting his day at around midday. But eating’s usually not the first thing he does. In an interview with GQ, Epps talked about his intermittent fasting routine:

“I drink a bottle of water. Then, I go to the gym on an empty stomach. After the gym, I like to get my protein in because I do a hard workout, so that’s important. My smoothie contains a plant-based protein, cinnamon, and powdered peanut butter. By the time I have it, I’m starving. It’s the first thing I put into my body during the day because I do this thing called intermittent fasting, so I’m only eating for an 8-hour period while I’m awake. It just really attacks whatever fat you have.”

After that, it’s a usually a lot of protein and vegetables for Epps, “for the most part he makes me turkey bacon, oatmeal, maybe some egg whites, some kind of fruit, or avocado—that type of thing,” he wrote in a Bon Appétit article about what Chef Aleem prepares for him. Epps stays away from beef, pork and candy, while boasting with pride about his vegetable garden, “I ate okra yesterday that we got from the garden, and I’ve also got bell peppers and mint back there too. I really appreciate the farm-to-table thing.”

The position I’m in, being up all night, doing live shows—it’s a lot of cardio. You basically have to be built. You need the mind of an athlete to be part of this game.

What Rapper 2 Chainz Eats for Breakfast | Bon Appétit

Epps working hours are usually later in the evening. He likes to spend as much time with his kids as possible, “they get home around 3:30 or 4:00, and I spend time with them for a few hours” he told GQ. After family time, dinner and putting the kids to bed, Epps is off to perform at a live show or recording in his man-cave studio.

“If I’m not on the road, I go to the studio. I don’t write, so I head in and try to vibe out, record something so I can get my thoughts out,” says Epps. “I listen to different instrumentals and when one inspires me I try to go in and feel the song from there.”

Epps’ process of not writing his rhymes down and going off the top of his head in the studio is what he considers a mental exercise, “remembering the verses, not writing anything down, those are like my mind pull-ups.”

It’s also his way of counteracting the side effects of smoking copious amounts of marijuana, “I do have, uh, habits that are not so good of course, that burn up some brain cells, but I try to challenge them by remembering the numbers that I should remember, and also storing the verses in my head.”

It probably sounds like a myth or a fairy tale. So for me, I’m actually thankful for the ups and the downs that make me who I am today.

2 Chainz on Longevity, Working With Everybody, and LeBron James | The Ringer

Before you go…

Check out more daily routines from Barack Obama, Joe Rogan, Jeff Bezos, Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and plenty others.