With the release of his 27th album, Rule Of Thumb: Rule 1 as well as his new cookbook with Snoop Dogg, Goon With The Spoon, E-40 sat down with The Associated Press for a conversation spanning his success and career.

The conversation turned to E-40's underrated status. He's laid the blueprint for entrepreneurs in Hip-Hop, has been instrumental in paving Hip-Hop's pathway into spirits, specifically wine with his Earl Stevens Collection, and is also the solo rapper with the most charting albums on the Billboard 200in history, with 33. Yet, his name is not brought up nearly enough when it comes to game-changing MCs.

"My life is beautiful," E-40 answered. "I’m very successful. I’m financially set. I’m financially good. I’m still accumulating bread. I’m still breaking boundaries. But anything that’s different is always going to be questionable. There will never be a rapper like E-40, whether you like me or not. You just got to give it to me. I got my own thing. I’ve been successful for 36 years with music since 1988. Let that soak in. I’ve got to be doing something right. Can’t just be no damn luck. I come from the ground up. All your favorite independent CEOs, they respect me because I was first. I laid the foundation for independent music."

He also talked about how his cookbook with Snoop came about, and how he fell in love with cooking. "I’m the oldest of four," he said. "Moms would work two or three jobs. My mom and dad divorced when I was 8 years old. I had a lot of responsibilities being the oldest, so I cooked. We all knew how to cook. We taught ourselves how to cook. I worked at a restaurant when I was a teenager. There was a Caucasian man that I love dearly to this day. His name is Lewis. He taught me how to cook escargot, orange roughy with almonds with lemon butter sauce with white wine. He taught me how to do London Broil and chicken cordon bleu."

He said his connection to Snoop was natural. The pair also release a Mount Westmore album last year alongside Ice Cube and Too $hort.

"Snoop, that’s my guy," 40 said. "He cooks as well. He was like, 'Earl, my book was very successful. I sold over a million copies. It’s a bestseller. Let me present it.' I was like “Snoop, I rock with you. You’re legendary. You’re a good friend of mine. I’ve been knowing you for over 30-plus years. We’re family. Thank you. Let’s do it.”

Grab the book here. Listen to the album here.