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Dr. Dre Refused to Produce MJ, Prince & Stevie ... I'm Better With Rookies!!!

Michael Jackson and Prince are two names almost guaranteed to be on every artist's collab wishlist ... but not Dr. Dre's!

The hip hop giant says he turned down both late music legends to work in the studio ... because they were just too established. He also admitted to leaving Stevie Wonder in the studio hanging after personally being asked to go half on a track. What's the big deal, Dre?!!?

The music mogul made the puzzling revelations to Kevin Hart on the new season of his "Hart to Hart" podcast and admitted shaping a new artist's career — as we saw with Snoop Dogg and Eminem — is much easier for him than helping a living legend find their sound.

It's hard to imagine one of the greatest producers ever to be intimidated, but Dre says he grew up with the likes of MJ, Prince and Stevie ... and he'd rather just listen from afar.

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