Dr. Dre Details Why He Turned Down Working with ‘Heroes’ Michael Jackson, Prince and Stevie Wonder

“What the f— am I going to do with them?” Dre told Kevin Hart on his ‘Hart to Heart’ talk show

Dr. Dre, Michael Jackson, Prince. PHOTO:  DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY

Dr. Dre previously turned down working with “heroes” like Michael Jackson — but at the time, it may not have been such a “Bad” decision.

On a new episode of Kevin Hart’s Hart to Heart talk show, the legendary producer revealed why he didn’t work with Jackson, Prince and later, Stevie Wonder, when the opportunities were presented to him.

“They just asked me to work with them and I was just like, ‘What the f— am I going to do with them?'” Dre, 58, told Hart, who looked visibly surprised by his revelation during the chat, which is streaming now on Peacock.

As Dre explained, 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.

“… 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 s— should sound. I can’t explore.”

The producer, who has been instrumental in the careers of Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Anderson .Paak, also added that he likes the way he feels about his favorite musicians, which “could change by working with them,” he told BET.

“These are my heroes,” he said. “I like the idea of what I grew up listening to [them], and I want to keep it like that. I don’t want to f— up that idea and that look.”

Dre previously opened up about his opportunity to work with Jackson during a Power 106 interview years before the pop star’s 2009 death, when he shared that he “just got a call yesterday about doing something with him.”

“I don’t know, man, I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he’d work with Jackson. “I like working with new artists. Unless it’s just somebody that I’m really feeling comfortable with in the studio. I can’t picture myself in the studio like, ‘Yo Mike, do that again.'”

Hart’s Hart to Heart talk show has most recently featured guests such as John Cena, Issa Rae, Will Ferrell, and Sofia Vergara for its third season, which launched in July.