More about: Taylor SwiftQuincy-Jones

In an opinionated interview with GQ magazine, uber-producer and all-round musical legend Quincy Jones stuck the boot into Taylor Swift by savaging her approach to songwriting.

"We need more songs, man. Fucking songs, not hooks.’

The 84-year old former jazz musician and arranger attributed Swift’s moribund output to a classic lack of effort.

"Since I was a little kid, I’ve always heard the people that don’t wanna do the work,’ he declared. "It takes work, man. The only place you find success before work is the dictionary.’

"And that’s alphabetical.’

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who is also a seven-time Oscar nominee, worked with Michael Jackson during his world-dominating stretch of albums from "Off The Wall’ (1979) through "Thriller’ (1982) and "Bad’ (1987).

Perhaps keen to strike a more conciliatory tone with Swift, who is for better or worse one of the biggest-selling artists of the past decade, Jones later reckoned that at a push he could "figure something out’ if the pair ever decided to collaborate.

"A great song can make the worst singer in the world a star… a bad song can’t be saved by the three best singers in the world.’

In case you were thinking Jones has turned into a bit of a grumpy old man now he’s in his dotage, he was effusive in his praise for Kedrick Lamar and Bruno Mars, who clearly meet his high standards in terms of work ethic.

And it’s not just guys either – Jones also had warm words to say about Jennifer Hudson and soul veteran Mary J Blige.

In spite of Quincy Jones’ criticism, and thanks to her multimillion sales and vast social media following, Taylor Swift will no doubt shake it off somehow.

More about: Taylor SwiftQuincy-Jones