Superstar rapper Snoop Dogg is one of them - "We've got a song together, but I don't know when I'll drop it" - and the late Mac Miller was one of Bell's closest friends.

Miller, who died last year, told Bell to keep working because artists and producers will want to create music with him.

"Just because I made a name for myself in football doesn't mean I've made my name in the music game yet," Bell said.

Speaking of which, he went by the stage name "Juice" on his first several projects, but recently decided to drop it and go by his given name.

"It was an alter ego at first," he said. "It's just who I am. That's what I'm doing. Yes, I play football, and I do music. This is Le'Veon Bell. This is me: football player, rapper, entertainer, however you want to look at me."

Bell released an action-packed, cinematic-style video for his new single Slide on Tuesday night. Directed by Christian Breslauer, it features the running back in military gear slowly dropping upside-down from a ceiling before a Call of Duty-style gun battle.

He plans to release an EP later this month before the regular season begins, and has a catalog of nearly 500 recorded songs that are mixed and edited.

It's the result of spending entire weekends holed up in his Florida studio with his engineer during the offseason. He has another 200 or so songs that just need a little work.

Bell is deliberate with his music, just as he is with his running style. He'll record a song and then wait several weeks before deciding if he truly likes it.

He also never writes out any of his lyrics. He'll take a beat into the studio and spit lyrics on the spot.

"That's how you make the best music, when it's literally raw emotion," said Bell, who ranks Canadian rapper Drake as his favorite artist.

He's focused on fine-tuning his vocals and experimenting with different styles. He was more melodic in his first few projects, but is a bit more hardcore lately.

"People kind of like this, what I'm doing, so I'm going to ride this wave until they want something else," Bell said. "I think that's what an artist's supposed to do, you know?"

With the season about to kick off, football comes first now. But music will always provide the soundtrack on auto-play in his mind.

"I love music, man," Bell said with a big smile. "I love making music and I'm going to continue making music."

Associated Press