Macklemore Talks Music, Giving Back and the 'Juggling Act' of Fatherhood: 'I Just Do My Best Each Day'

Brooks Running Macklemore

Macklemore may have his hands full with new music in the works and three young kids at home, but he knows better than anyone that you're never too busy to celebrate the season of giving.

"I think service work is an imperative part of the human experience, to get outside of ones' self, to connect with other people to really be reminded of what's important," the musician tells PEOPLE. "I love sharing what I've been given."

This season, the "Next Year" rapper, 38, is doing good in his home city of Seattle, where he's teaming up with Brooks Running to help support Mary's Place, a local shelter that serves people experiencing homelessness.

Macklemore and the athletics company are calling on people across the country to join their Run Merry movement — an initiative that'll be donating $50,000 to Mary's Place — by nominating loved ones on social media, who just may receive a "surprise" for doing so, he says.

Brooks Running Macklemore

"What's really important is knowing that we can all show up in a way that is authentic – and whether that's just listening to someone's story, whether that's getting involved in serving a meal, or giving a donation… When we do that, the gate's open to really feeling fulfilled," he says. "I think that's what we're all striving for with our time here."

As he takes stock of what's most important to him, Macklemore — who shares kids Sloane Ava Simone, 6, Colette Koala, 3, and Hugo Jack, 5 months, with wife Tricia Davis — is zeroing in on gratitude this holiday season, and slowing things down in order to focus on his loved ones.

"It's just about coming together with friends and family," he says. "My dad just got back surgery, I'm realizing that my parents are old and who knows what's going to happen? None of us make it out of this world alive. Let's really take this in and be present."

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Of course, the three-time Grammy winner is also ready to spread Christmas cheer at home in the usual ways, like music, eggnog (he's not a fan so he'll cut his with milk) and Elf on the Shelf.

"The tree is up. We just have clear lights. My kids have complained many times that we don't have lights that are colorful, so they prefer grandma's tree over ours, which I'm pretty sure has hurt my wife's feelings," he jokes.

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As he heads into the new year, the musician (born Ben Haggerty) says he's working on nailing the "juggling act" that comes with balancing his career with three kids under 6 — including one who's got quite the independent streak.

"Sloane has a great ear. She holds nothing back, and she hurts my feelings regularly, so she's doing her job as a daughter," he jokes of his oldest. "She likes to get in the studio. She goes in and freestyles. Her beatboxing has gotten really good, she taught herself to beatbox."

Macklemore jokes that Sloane has been "working on taking advice" in the studio, where he often escapes in order to focus solely on recording for five to seven days at a time.

"I just do my best each day," he says. "I work in the morning when the kids are at school. I pick them up, I'm with them until they go to sleep. I start working again around 8:30. I just work when I can."

To learn more about the #RunMerry initiative, click here.