Dr. Dre has legendary producer status in the music world, but even someone with his level of notoriety as an artist can feel muddled. In recent reports, Dre humbly admitted that he turned down working with the late megastars Prince and Michael Jackson due to the amount of pressure to match their creative needs. In discussion during Kevin Hart’s podcast show, “Hart to Hart,” Dre disclosed that he declined working with the two legends and even Stevie Wonder.
“They just asked me to work with them and I was like, what the f*** am I gonna do with them?” the Straight Outta Compton rapper said. For the past 30 years, Dre gave shape to many artists who are regarded as hip-hop legends, such as Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem. With this in mind, it would be safe to say that Dre backed down from working with these artists because they felt out of his league of the artists whom he usually works with.
He “most recently” even passed on a chance to work with Wonder, 73, who mentioned on the phone that he’d like to make a song together.
“My entire life and career has been dealing with and working with new artists. That’s what I like,” Dre later added, per BET.
Dre, 58, is focusing on his position as CEO at Aftermath Records and Beats Electronics. Earlier this year, he sold his catalog to Universal Music and Shamrock Holdings for a $200 Million-plus deal. Additionally, he won the Hip-Hop icon award at the 2023 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards.
Dr. Dre feeling intimidated to work with any artist sounds unimaginable but when it comes to Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder, he would prefer to show praise from a distance.
Bato Aydelotte