Dr. Dre reveals why turned down the opportunity to work with Prince and Michael Jackson

Speaking along the lines of the saying, "don't meet your idols", Dr. Dre revealed that he had been given the opportunity to work with Prince and Michael Jackson at different stages in his career, but he decided to turn them down because of how highly he regards them.

“They just asked me to work with them and I just was like, ‘What the fuck am I going to do with them?’” he explained. “I like the idea of what I grew up listening to and I want to keep it like that. I don’t want to fuck up that idea.”

He also went on to explain that he preferred working with upcoming artists, as Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg were at the time, as opposed to working with established artists who he loved, and subsequently having his feelings changed about them.

“My entire life and career has been dealing with and working with new artists. That’s what I like. 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. Everybody else, especially my heroes, they’re coming in and there’s a set plan as to how the shit should sound. I can’t explore.”

He later discusses Kendrick Lamar, calling him a "forever artist": "The only thing I can take credit for is opening the door for him, because he's done everything himself," Dr. Dre says.

In terms of artists that he's worked with, Dr. Dre likes Lamar to Eminem and Snoop Dogg: "Some artists feel like they have to do something all the time so they won't be forgotten. That's not him – he can disappear, and come back with something that's shocking, that's amazing, and everybody is going to tune in."