Your career began with NWA (Niggas With Attitude), a group which became very famous - and controversial - as the architects of gangsta rap, often accused of glorifying violence.

How do you glorify violence? We just talked about it. There's not one time where NWA says, 'We want you to go out and shoot somebody.'

After NWA, you co-founded Death Row records which was intended to be the new Motown. Its first release was your solo album, The Chronic, which sold over 4 million copies and fully established your position at the forefront of hip hop.

I was on top of the world. I'm the hottest producer, I've got the hottest record out, I'm the hottest hip hop artist. It was an incredible time.

And yet, it also seems a chaotic time. You had money, fame - all in your early 20s.

I was having a little too much fun. I blew a lot of money, I was partying too much. I was spending money on a lot of cars, jewellery, apartments. It was just dumb shit. I was letting people in my life that were straight up there to see what they can get out of my pocket. I actually sat down one day and wrote down the names of all of those people and said, which of these do I really need around me? And it was one person left. I just got everybody out of my life and started over.

And at Death Row, early success turned into rivalry. Did the personalities involved in the label become bigger than the music itself?

Yes they did. The music stopped being important. It became, what's this person doing? What kinda car do they have? I gotta get a better car than that. When the money started coming into play from Death Row, that's when it stopped being fun. And I just felt like, it's time for Dre to go out and do his own thing. Eventually I wanna get into movies, producing, maybe directing, writing scores. That's where I think my real talent is.

Now you're planning to reform NWA, with Snoop Dogg. But after shocking the world a decade ago, what else is there left to talk about?

That's a big question. But once we deliver the record and it's hot, something that you can just bump and roll out to, what the album is about won't matter.

Interview by Ekow Eshun