At 85-year-old, legendary music producer, Quincy Jones has decided to be as brutal as he can possibly be and is less concerned about what anyone think
At 85-year-old, legendary music producer, Quincy Jones has decided to be as brutal as he can possibly be and is less concerned about what anyone thinks of his honesty. In a recent interview with New York Times, the music mogul had some jaw-dropping things to say about Michael Jackson, The Beatles, President Donald Trump and the sexual appetite of the legendary actor, Marlon Brando.
On Michael Jackson
“I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs. Donna Summer’s ‘State of Independence’ and ‘Billie Jean.’ The notes don’t lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come. Greedy, man. Greedy. ‘Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough — Greg Phillinganes wrote the c section. Michael should’ve given him 10 percent of the song. But he wouldn’t do it.”
Quincy adds, “I used to kill him about the plastic surgery, man. He’d always justify it and say it was because of some disease he had. Bullshit.”
On Marlon Brando
Quincy Jones claims that a few well known male black artists had sex with Marlon Brando including including Richard Pryor, something the late comedian’s widow, Jennifer, confirmed. “It was the Seventies! Drugs were still good, especially Quaaludes. If you did enough cocaine, you’d fuck a radiator and send it flowers in the morning.”
According to Quincy, Marlon Brando could charm the pants off people. “He was the most charming motherfucker you ever met. He’d fuck anything. Anything! He’d fuck a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.”
On the Beatles
“They were terrible musicians, no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.” The 28 time Grammy award winning mega-producer singled out Ringo Starr, who he worked with on his solo album. “I remember once … Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’ So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
On the call for Oprah to run for president
“I don’t think she should run. She doesn’t have the chops for it. If you haven’t been governor of a state or the CEO of a company or a military general, you don’t know how to lead people,” said Jones, who is friends with the media mogul.
On President Donald Trump
“It’s Trump and uneducated rednecks. Trump is just telling them what they want to hear. I used to hang out with him. He’s a crazy motherfucker. Limited mentally, a megalomaniac, narcissistic. I can’t stand him. He doesn’t know shit … Someone who knows about real leadership wouldn’t have as many people against him as he does. He’s a fucking idiot.”
On rasicm
“I’ve been watching it a long time – the ’30s to now. We’ve come a long way but we’ve got a long way to go. The South has always been fucked up, but you know where you stand. The racism in the North is disguised. You never know where you stand. I thinks that the state of the world is the worst we’ve ever been but it’s heartening to see that people are trying to fix the bigger problems.
On today’s music business
“I think today’s music business is lazy,” he said. He denounced the lack of innovation across different genres. “That’s true about rap, that it’s the same phrase over and over and over again. Today’s pop music lacks originality. It’s just loops, beats rhymes and hooks. The greatest singer in the world cannot save a bad song. I learned that 50 years ago, and it’s the single greatest lesson I ever learned as a producer. However, Bruno Mars, Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Sam Smith and Mark Ronson, as musicians excite me.
On Ivanka Trump
“I used to date Ivanka, you know. Twelve years ago. Tommy Hilfiger, who was working with my daughter, Kidada said, ‘Ivanka wants to have dinner with you.’ I said, ‘No problem. She’s a fine motherfucker.’ She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life. Wrong father, though.”
