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Rick Rubin

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Frederick Jay Rubin (born 1963), is an American record producer best known for his work in rap and heavy metal. He was a major figure in the fusion of rap and hard rock by bringing together Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith for the hit song "Walk This Way". He was also a major figure in the fusion of rap and heavy metal into Alternative metal, Nu metal and other forms. MTV has called him "the most important producer of the last 20 years." Rubin was given an Esky for Best Visionary in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue: "In four words we trust: produced by Rick Rubin. ... While he hides behind a mysterious bearded-shaman schtick, the secret to his success is obvious; He's one of the few industry giants with the confidence to just let artists be themselves." He currently is best known for producing every Red Hot Chili Peppers album since the groundbreaking Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Contents

The Def Jam years

In high school Rubin had a band called "The Pricks", and later played guitar in a New York University art-punk band called "Hose", influenced by San Francisco's Flipper. In 1982, Hose became Def Jam release #1, a 45-rpm 7" vinyl single in a brown paper bag, and no paper label. The band played in and around the NYC punk scene, toured the Midwest and California, and played with seminal bands like the Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, the Circle Jerks and the Butthole Surfers but broke up by 1986 as another passion began consuming Rubin's time: the burgeoning NYC hip-hop scene.

Rubin had not only found himself immersed in punk rock but the hip-hop culture that was being embraced by New York City's Lower East Side art community. Many hip-hop artists from The Bronx and Harlem began performing downtown.

Befriending Zulu Nation's DJ Jazzy Jay, Rubin wanted to learn about hip-hop production. By 1983, the two men produced "It's Yours" for rapper T La Rock, and released it on their independent label, Def Jam Records. Producer Arthur Baker helped to release the record worldwide on Baker's Streetwise Records in 1984.

Jazzy Jay introduced Rubin to concert promoter/artist manager Russell Simmons in a club, and Rubin explained he needed help getting Def Jam off the ground. Simmons and Rubin edged out Jazzy Jay and the official Def Jam record label was founded while Rubin was still attending New York University in 1984. Their early records included LL Cool J's "I Need a Beat", which led to the top 40 hit "Rock the Bells" in 1985. Rubin went off the beaten path of hip-hop being a product of The Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem by recruiting rappers from Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, which eventually led to Def Jam's release of Public Enemy's records. "Rock Hard"/"Party's Gettin' Rough"/"Beastie Groove" EP by the Beastie Boys came out an on the heels of the success of Rubin's production work with breakthrough act Run-D.M.C.. His productions were characterised by occasionally fusing rap with heavy rock.

It was Rubin's idea to have Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith collaborate on a cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" in 1987, a production credited with both introducing rap-hard rock to mainstream ears and revitalizing Aerosmith's career. His work on Slayer's Reign in Blood saw him in a purer rock context.

The Def American years

In 1988, Simmons and Rubin went their separate ways, partly due to a power struggle that Rubin lost with Def Jam president Lyor Cohen. Simmons stayed in New York with Def Jam, and Rubin left for Los Angeles, California, to found Def American Records. In Los Angeles, he signed a number of heavy rock acts, including Slayer, Danzig, Masters of Reality, The Cult and Wolfsbane, as well as the indie rockers The Jesus & Mary Chain and controversial stand up comedian Andrew Dice Clay. He produced the Red Hot Chili Peppers' breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He retained a close association with rap, signing the Geto Boys and continuing to work with Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run-D.M.C. among others.

The American Recordings years

Rubin found that his misunderstood slang invention "def" had been accepted into the dictionary and in 1993, Rubin held an actual funeral, complete with a casket and a grave, for the word "def". Def American became American Recordings. The first major project on the renamed label was Johnny Cash's American Recordings (1994), a record including nine cover versions. The album did much to revive Cash's career following a fallow period. The formula was repeated for three more Cash albums: Unchained, Solitary Man, and The Man Comes Around. Cash's final album before his 2003 death, The Man Comes Around, garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Bridge Over Troubled Water" with Fiona Apple) and a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Male ("Give My Love to Rose"). Rubin also produced a number of records with other older artists, including Mick Jagger's 1993 Wandering Spirit album, Tom Petty (Wildflowers) and Donovan (Sutras). Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' sorrowful tune, "Hurt", would become the defining song of his later years.

Production trademarks

Rubin's biggest trademark as a producer has been a "stripped-down" sound, that involves eliminating cliché production elements like string sections, backup vocals, reverb, and the like in favor of naked vocals and bare instrumentation. However, recently, Rubin has changed style, as noted in the New York Post "As the track reaches a crescendo and Diamond's portentous baritone soars over a swelling string arrangement, Rubin leans back, as though floored by the emotional power of the song".

His previous style began with his very first production effort, LL Cool J's Radio, which consisted of little more than rapping and percussive beats (Rubin's liner notes credit for that album, instead of the expected "Produced by Rick Rubin", reads "Reduced by Rick Rubin"). Later he developed a reputation as a "song doctor" who, by performing the same reduction on the sound of veteran singers and bands, could help them break out of the commercial rut they were currently in. He did this most notably with Johnny Cash, but also achieved this effect with Tom Petty, AC/DC (on the album Ballbreaker) and Neil Diamond (on 12 Songs).

Recent albums produced by Rick Rubin contain much Audio level compression and are very loud. A good example of this is Californication (album) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and by Slipknot. This is a mastering decision, not a producer lead decision, however, as most record labels choose the mastering house, not the producer. Rubin relies heavily on arrangements and elements of sound. On this issue, Dan Charnas, a music journalist who worked as vice president of A&R and marketing at Rubin's American Recordings label in the 1990s said "He's fantastic with sound and arrangements, and he's tremendous with artists. They love him. He shows them how to make it better, and he gets more honest and exciting performances out of people than anyone."

Another of Rubin's trademarks is the fusion of rap and hard rock/heavy metal, which he can lay claim to inventing in his work with Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. His most recent rap-rock work was Jay-Z's 2003 song "99 Problems" and Lil' Jon's 2004 song "Stop Fuckin' Wit Me". The latter sampled Slayer's "Mandatory Suicide" and "Reign in Blood", both originally produced by Rubin.

Another trademark has been having artists cover unexpected material in their own style. In addition to the notable covers of Run-D.M.C. and Johnny Cash, Rubin produced Slayer's cover of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", executive-produced the Black Crowes' career-launching cover of Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle", and produced Rage Against The Machine's 2000 covers album, Renegades. Rubin is currently working on the next Linkin Park record, due for release in mid 2006.

The New York Post stipulates Rubin's work does not have a signature sound, declaring "What is the Rick Rubin sound? There isn't one. Just that signature standard for greatness, as Rubin's résumé includes more than a few classic albums."

Albums produced

External links

 

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