Kevin Gates has changed a lot over the last few years. In addition to taking stock of his life and maturing while working on his second album I’m Him, he has also undergone a complete physical transformation, dropping from 310 pounds to 215 pounds.
Earlier this year, he revealed to Men’s Health that he had one hell of a wakeup call when a baby tried to breastfeed from him. “That shit hurt my fucking feelings,” he said, noting that it was the moment that kickstarted his transformation. During a recent episode of Complex webseries ‘Sneaker Shopping’, Gates talks about how he has worked to make physical fitness a part of his music.
“I’m the artist that trains like an athlete,” he says. “I look at the music game like boxing, you gotta be in shape.” He cites his sporting hero, Muhammad Ali, as a huge influence, and adds that while he was going through his weight loss journey, he had his own way of getting pumped up and full of energy before he did a live show.
“A lot of people don’t know this, I’m going to tell you this secret. Before every performance, even New York, when I was up here, I’d go work out. Right before every show,” he says. “It releases them endorphins and had me just… mighty.”
Gates’ renewed enthusiasm for fitness is evident in his new music video, ‘Push It’, which sees the rapper engaged in all kinds of physical activity — but he reveals that the experience was pretty painful.
“I almost died for you people,” he says. “Y’all better love me for that.” While he had a stunt double standing in for him in some shots of the video, Gates did some of the activity himself, including running; and because the stuntman wasn’t wearing socks, he didn’t either. Big mistake! “I had blisters on the top of my toes that looked like my knuckles.”
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