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Dr Dre is one of the biggest hip-hop artists of all time through N.W.A, his solo albums and producing for the likes of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. Many might be quick to assume that hip-hop is his only genre of interest, but far from it. In fact, there’s a classic country record that’s among his favourite songs of all time.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live with Snoop and 50 Cent, Dre was asked whether he gets collaborative requests from people outside of the rap world. Jimmy Kimmel brought up country icon Dolly Parton as someone to potentially work alongside, prompting him to reveal that ‘Jolene’ is up there as one of the best.

“Yes, all the time,” he said about artists from other genres reaching out. “But you know, my love is with hip-hop. It really depends on the relationship. If I meet somebody and we click, or what have you, then I’ll go in the studio and get down. I love Dolly Parton. Yes, absolutely. ‘Jolene’ is one of my favourite songs. But hip-hop is my love.”

Country music isn’t the only genre on Dr. Dre’s radar, with everything from rock to polka in his regular rotation. Whether it’s John Lennon or something soulful from the ’70s, he’s regularly finding new sources of inspiration from across the board.

“I’m listening to different genres of music all the time,” he told Kevin Hart on Hart to Heart. “You know, this week I might be listening to ’70s soul, next week I might be listening to rock or The Beatles or some shit like that. I’m all over the place. I might be listening to some fucking polka or something when I leave here, I don’t know. I get inspirations from all type of genres of music.”

Dr Dre previously revealed that Nirvana was his favourite rock band during the HBO documentary series The Defiant Ones, which centred around the partnership of Dre and Interscope founder Jimmy Iovine, who together founded Beats Electronics. The Compton rapper/producer fanned out when one of their classic songs started playing.

“Yo, I’m starting to sweat right now just listening to this shit — it’s bananas,” he said while listening to ‘Stay’ from 1991’s Nevermind album. “Nirvana, Kurt Cobain — that’s my favourite rock group of all time. Dre previously stated that the band’s debut album Bleach was one of his favourite albums ever recorded and that it soundtracks his gym sessions.

While it’s unknown whether Kurt Cobain was a fan of Dr Dre, he was a fan of hip-hop in general. The rock legend once compared rap to punk rock, calling it “vital” when it comes to impactful music.

“I think rap music is the only vital form of music that has been introduced to music in a long time since punk rock,” he said in audio that surfaced years after his death. “I would never do rap music. No. There’s just no sense in it. The people who do rap music do it just fine… I’m usually offended by people like Vanilla Ice, and stuff like that.”

He added, “The white man ripped off the black man long enough. They should leave rap music to the African-Americans because they do it so well, and it is so vital to them.”