2023 has been special, if for no other reason than to be an excuse to celebrate and give flowers to hip-hop culture and its pioneers.

For the occasion, as is the case for the entire year, we recently sat down with one of those pioneers – particularly regarding the business element. For BET Talks, Master P stopped by and dropped some major gems while promoting his new partnership with former No Limit labelmate Snoop Dogg and his Snoop Cereal.

During the conversation, P explained how the partnership came to be but also reflected on hip-hop’s 50th birthday, his legacy, and how AI may affect the next half-century of the culture.

BET: We're celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, and I want to know how you feel about it. Do you feel like it's crazy it's been 50 years or it's only been 50 years?

Master P: I'm like, It's only been 50 years. We are growing, we're getting better. We talk about entrepreneurship and creating our own brands and business. It's incredible how much we have grown as a culture because many people didn't think we could do this. So we'll be around at this time that we are. I'm just excited for the next 50 years.

BET: Your career has been crazy successful. It's what people envision their career to be if they started this as a rapper, singer, or anything in the entertainment business. Is this what you envisioned for yourself?

Master P: Like I said, it's just a blessing. I put my trust and faith in God. I didn't do it by myself. I'm not self-made. I'm God made and to be able to have great partners, like Snoop Dogg, is incredible. We come from hip-hop. You talk about unity in what we're doing together, we're changing the game. We're going up against the giants when you talk about the food industry. It's a blessing what we was able to create.

BET: I see you also brought some products here today with Snoop, so what is going on with that?

Master P: Yeah, but first I want to say a big shout out to Rap Snacks because this is where it started – with the [Rap Snacks]. You can’t mention 50 years of hip-hop without mentioning Rap Snacks – putting hip-hop artists on its own bag, so that's the culture. But when you look at what me and Snoop has built as a family brand, you look at all these major companies that handle all these big brands that people tell us that we can't compete with… Snoop cereal We one of the biggest brands in the world now. You could go to Amazon.com, you go to Walmart, you go to Target, you go to Albertsons – all your major chain grocery stores, and salute to Post for believing in diversity. We the first Black-owned company with national distribution because of course it’s a blessing and beyond because of having Snoop as a partner. And people always say you got to be a good student, and then you could be… I mean Snoop, he was a great student and now he's a great boss. This is bigger than cereal because we also educate the next generation. When you look at one of these boxes, I just want you to read and see what you see on the boxes and look on the sides, with the stamp while we're tackling homelessness and it’s just all positivity.

BET: I love that. I feel like everything you touch turns to gold. It seems like success after success after success, but has there been something you failed at?

Master P: Oh, I failed so many times because I look at it as practice. And never a loss, it’s a lesson. So I constantly keep getting back up. I want people to know when you fail, get back up. But take your time. When I fall, I lay on the ground a little while and think about my next move. Don't look at life as you're never gonna fail, you're gonna fail so many times. But winning, you don't learn from winning, you learn from losing. And so every time I lost, I just got myself together, put my trust and faith in God and got back up.

BET: You guys are both on everything. People love your life, they see you, they admire you. Is there anything you miss about your life before fame, before success, before money?

Master P: Yeah, it's just being able to just [be a] regular family – being able to go wherever you want to go. And things have changed with the internet and social media because people promote negativity. I just wish that, back in the days, like you could make mistakes, you could build, it's not a part of everybody world and we're going to constantly go through this. But now we have to learn how to live with this with AI. I just love back in the days how if a grandparent says something, It was law. Now, these kids, If you say something to a kid now it’s like… I'm still scared of my dad. It’s just like the way we was raised, it’s family over everything and it's like being able to just have that family time besides being successful. I miss that.

BET: So I heard you mentioned AI. I want to ask you about that because everything in this industry is changing quickly – but especially with AI. How are you feeling because I only feel negative thoughts about it?

Master P: You know what? I didn’t know what to think. The other day I went to this expo, and they had a twin of me talking. I'm like, This my twin? It was talking just like me and saying all this stuff. And I'm like, we're gonna have to be able to accept it. But it'll never be a real one of us, but we're gonna control the computer. So we just gotta be able to do our part and not let the computers control us. And so when you look at AI to me, they still need us at the end of the day.

BET: Are you hearing the AI songs?

Master P: Some of them sound pretty good.

BET: But do you feel like they might be taking jobs?

Master P: Well, think about this though. I think one good thing that’ll happen – even when we're not here, then you could still be here. Because you can't imagine yourself not being here. Right? Even though you know you're not going to be here one day but AI will keep you here.

BET: Does that give you comfort?

Master P: You know what, I seen a program where people was like, “Hey want you to come. You could talk to your kids and talk to your family. You're gonna have this but 20 years from now… I'm like, do I really want to do that? I mean, some people want to do that. This company is making a lot of money.

BET: I know you have a business mind. Are you trying to maybe get in the AI too?

Master P: Not really, not really. I just like it because I liked the technology and seeing all these different things but I'm not afraid of it.

BET: Out of all the things you've accomplished, and it's a long list, what do you personally feel most proud of?

Master P: I feel most proud of being a servant. We can't take this money with us. We can't take this fame with us. I'm more proud of creating future leaders. I tell people, You're not successful unless you create another millionaire. So to be able to do that, I think God has continued blessing me and my family, and I'm thankful and grateful. I'm not perfect. But I'm constantly growing, educating myself. Those are the things that I'm proud of – just watching my kids blossom, being able to chase their dreams and their goals.

BET: How does it feel watching them also? They've had great careers, you feel like proud dad?

Master P: Yeah always because I grew up in poverty, never had anything. And now, they’re making a TV series about my life, No Limit. So to be able to let my kids see the struggle and pain that I grew up in. I think that's got to be the thing for me, knowing that there's a No Limit TV series is going to change the game, but my kids are actually see, man, I grew up with my grandparents, so I didn't live with my parents. My grandparents and I grew up in a three bedroom project. I never had a rule, I had lived in a house with 12 kids, and it wasn’t easy. But I never complained. I've always thought that one day I'll be living a better life. So that's my message to this generation. I want to talk about this 50 years of hip-hop, which is so important, because it's all about unity. For us to be in this game this long is definitely unity. And I want to thank BET for bringing everybody together. I look at the south, the South taught hip-hop how to get money. So I got to shout out Uncle Luke, Rap-A-Lot Records, Suave House Records, Cash Money Records because when everybody see me and [Birdman] they think that it's beef. It’s never beef, friendly competition. We both from the same place, but we always rooting for each other. We never try to hurt each other, kill each other. That's what I love and respect about Cash Money and Birdman.

BET: Wrapping up, is there a lyric of yours or any hip-hop artist that resonates with you or stays in your head?

Master P: For me, [“I Miss My Homies”]. Off all the people that I lost, it made me think about my daughter, everybody that I lost in my family that when I hear that song they just never ending. I know “Make ‘Em Say Ugh” is a favorite, but that song for me is special.