Take a moment now to breathe — in through your nose, out though your mouth. It's surprising how much a little break can do for you. But what changes when the leader of your mental retreat is the guy known for turning up in the club?

Rapper and producer Lil Jon has been focused a lot on meditation recently — so much so that he decided to put out an album that would feature his own mantras instead of music. The king of crunk has been bringing the energy for decades on tracks like DJ Snake's "Turn Down For What," LMFAO's "Shots" and "Get Low" by his own Eastside Boyz. But like he told NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, "You gotta turn down sometimes" — which is just what he does on his new album of guided meditations, titled Total Meditation.

Lil Jon spoke with Rascoe on Weekend Edition Sunday about maturing in music, focusing on health and finding a balance between the extreme ends of the volume knob. Hear their conversation at the audio link, and read an edited transcript below.

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