On June 16, 2017, All Eyez On Me, the long-awaited biopic on Tupac Shakur, will hit theaters. The film is directed by legendary music video and film director, Benny Boom, and stars Demetrius Shipp, Jr., as Tupac, and Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead‘s Michonne), as Pac’s mother, Afeni Shakur.

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Ahead of the film’s release, Shipp guested on an episode of Snoop Dogg’s digital talk show, GGN. Aside from bearing a striking resemblance to Tupac, Shipp is connected to the iconic artist, through his lineage. Shipp’s father was a producer who worked with Pac, including on the record, “Toss It Up.” In fact, early in the conversation between Shipp and Snoop, Shipp recollects visiting the Death Row Records offices. “I remember Death Row days, being there as a kid. I was only like 6-years old, but I remember vividly being in certain parts of the studio, the back room…,” he says.

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It’s at that point that Snoop, who has seen the film, comments on just how compelling Shipp’s performance as Tupac was. “You brought a lot of the same energy and body language of my friend, Tupac,” says Snoop. “When I watched it, I seen my friend on screen. When you talk to [Danai], the way him and his mom’s relationship was…I was able to know that relationship. His mama was my friend, like he was my friend. So, to see the dynamics of how y’all communicated on screen, that was…man, that was beautiful. It was heartfelt for me. I cried a couple times, on the inside, watching the way y’all talked on screen, the way you had love for him.”

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Clearly deeply affected by the movie, the exchange was one of several that elicited powerful recollections from Snoop about his relationship with Pac. After detailing how he and Pac nearly rap battled the first time they met, Snoop continued about the movie’s impact on him. “I’m telling you, as a fan of movies, as a friend of Tupac, and a fan of the game, you did that. That was my friend. Tupac was my friend…I’d go to this ni**a house, the ni**a cooking fish and shrimp, with all the homies in the living room…me, him and MC Breed was a tandem…It’s a relationship that was crazy…When I see you on screen, you got it right. You got it right right.”

Throughout the interview, Shipp sheds light on who he is as a man, an actor and a producer. It’s a crash course on the man with the weight of playing one of Hip-Hop’s biggest icons on his shoulders.