Rubin's impressive music industry pedigree (and amassed fortune) began while he was still a student at NYU. With partner Russell Simmons he formed the mythic Def Jam Records. Def Jam is the home of hip-hop industry giants like Jay-Z, Ludacris, Nas, Method Man, Kayne West, Lady Sovereign, and just a billion other money-makers.
And Rick Rubin helped build this legendary label through his vision of blending hard rock with rap, which was perfectly illustrated on Run D.M.C's version of Aerosmith's classic rock hit, "Walk This Way." With this, rock-rap was born, and Rubin, more than anyone, helped define the mid-'80s sound that launched the Beastie Boys to fame and paved the way for similar artists like Kid Rock.
Simmons and Rubin were forced to break apart Def Jam when Rubin wanted to release the death-metal group Slayer's Reign In Blood. Def Jam's distributor, Columbia, refused, and the two split the company into separate entities: Rick Rubin on the West Coast with Def American (later becoming American Recordings), and Simmons on the East Coast with Def Jam.
With his new label, Rubin branched out to a wider audience and signed artists like Danzig and roots rock band the Black Crowes. He was also free to start producing more "classic" rock artists like Tom Petty, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Mick Jagger. This more than established his credentials as a heavy-hitter.
Production is an art form, and when working with an artist, a producer has the opportunity to take that artist and mold them into an ideal of what they think that artist should be. Sometimes that results in a "thumbprint" or a "signature sound" that makes that producer's work extremely recognizable (Phil Spector, Mutt Lange). This might be a great thing for the producer, but not necessarily great for the artist. This is truly what makes Rubin exemplary: not only does he have a great ear for music, excellent taste, and a fuzzy beard, but he also does not produce from preconceived notions.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
I used to work for Rubin at American Recordings in the early nineties Dawn. Definitely an interesting guy. You forgot to include Sir Mix A Lot on your list by the way (which was my initial connection to Rubin, coming from Nastymix).
Cool article.
-Glen
2 - Dawn
Glen,
Ya know, I almost added him, because well, I like big butts and I cannot lie. But I had to draw the line somewhere and damn if this wasn't a long article anyway.
I had intended for it to be a short piece on Glosslip, but I love him so much it naturally got out of hand.
You have to admit, he looks like Grizzly Adams.
So was he nice?
3 - DJRadiohead
He looks like Meathead with a shaggier beard.
4 - Dawn
I love Rob Reiner!
5 - Glen Boyd
he was very nice. Up to the moment I was fired anyway (long story...)
-Glen
6 - Mark Saleski
i don't think he twirled the knobs enough on Stadium Arcadium. in fact, i'm sure that would have been possible.
yeesh.
7 - Jon Sobel
Excellent article.
The guy's a friggin' genius, that's all I have to say.
8 - El Bicho
Very good feature on a man who pound for pound is the best music producers in the past 25 years, and possibly of all-time.
9 - Dawn
Honestly, anyone who had the vision to combine hard rock and rap is a friggin genius. How else could rap be made listenable?
I have to admit that I am all kinds of excited that the cool writers and music-philes liked this article. Thank you!!!
10 - heytherelamp
With all he has going on, Rick Rubin is still helping out the forgotten greats of popular music. Here's video of Rubin reinventing funnyman Ray Stevens.
Sorry about the firing, Glen. He seems too mellow to fire people. I hope it was the nicest firing of your life.
11 - Glen Boyd
Actualy Rick didn't fire me. Mike Bone did. Rick was a prince. Bone was...well, he was abone wasn't he?