MJ ‘sacked longtime friend and collaborator Quincy Jones’

London: Michael Jackson apparently sacked longtime pal and collaborator Quincy Jones after the producer tried to steer the King of Pop``s musical style towards hip-hop.

The pair worked together on Jackson``s albums, Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad, but their relationship soured when Jones tried to turn him into a rapper. "Michael fired me... He said, ``Quincy doesn``t understand the business any more. He doesn`t know that rap is dead``. But it``s OK. It (hip-hop) wasn`t so obvious then,” the Daily Star quoted Jones as telling The Guardian. The pair remained friends, however, and Jackson reached out to his pal shortly before his death last year, while he was preparing for his London concert series. ANI