Dr. Dre has revealed why he turned down opportunities to work with fellow legends like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder. While appearing on a recent episode of Kevin Hart’s Peacock talk show Hart to Heart, the producer said he “bowed out” of the collaborations because he didn’t want to tarnish how he felt about them as artists.
“They just asked me to work with them and I just was like, ‘What the fuck am I going to do with them?’” Dre told Hart after being asked whether he had any regrets. He elaborated that he didn’t want to affect “the way I feel about Stevie, Prince, Michael, Bruce Springsteen, and all of these amazing artists,” which “could change by working with them.”
“These are my fucking heroes,” he said. “I like the idea of what I grew up listening to and I want to keep it like that. And I don’t want to fuck up that idea and that look.”
Dre continued by breaking down why he has gravitated toward working with artists at the beginning of their careers like Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem instead of more established acts.
“Nobody comes in with an agenda,” he said. “It’s a ball of clay when they walk in the room. You can just form it and do what you want. That’s what I want.” With “everybody else” — particularly his heroes — they have a “set plan as to how the shit should sound” and Dre isn’t able to “explore” whatever sonics come to mind.
Back in 2001, Dre expressed the same sentiment while speaking with MTV Radio about turning down the chance to produce Invincible, which was Jackson’s first album in over a decade at the time. “Somebody approached me about working with Michael Jackson, and I did say no because I like working with new artists or people that I’ve worked with in the past,” he said. “I can develop them from the ground up. There’s no set standard that I have to live up to or anything like that.”
Though Dre doesn’t like to work with his musical heroes, he still pals around with them. Recently, he was spotted grabbing dinner with Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen following the latter’s show at London’s Hyde Park.
In October, Dre is set to reunite with Snoop Dogg for a pair of shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (grab tickets here) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the latter’s debut album, Doggystyle. Last October, Snoop teased a possible sequel to Doggystyle called Missionary.
