Snoop Dogg dropped his 18th studio album, From tha Streets 2 tha Suites, in April. The West Coast legend admits he’s evolved as an artist and producer since his 1993 debut, Doggystyle, which was produced by his longtime friend, Dr. Dre.

“I think Doggystyle was a learning experience for me, for Dr. Dre, for my whole career to see what it feels like to put together a perfect record and actually express everything that you want to express,” says Snoop, adding that he’s proud he’s been “able to have 17 more records and be in the game 20-something years after you sort of learn how to perfect your craft, how to give people what they want from you.”

“And that’s just what I love to do. I love to keep giving people all of me and different facets, different ways,” he continues. “And sometimes, it’s unexpected. Sometimes it’s like…got you offbeat. But by the time you finish watching and listening to it, you’ll be on the same drum I’m on.”

Many fans enjoy Snoop’s music just as much as his acting roles in films and television series such as Baby Boy, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, to name a few. But Snoop says, “music is my first love.”

“That’s what I do on the wake-up, he explains. “Sometimes when I’m listening to music in the industry, and I don’t have a record out or any songs out, I’m like a basketball player that’s watching the game that ain’t scoring no points. I’m like, ‘I gotta get back in the game.'”(AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

Up next, you can catch Snoop in the new film The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2, which premieres June 11. 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.