Rick Rubin - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile

Biography

This page uses content from the Rick Rubin biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Frederick Jay Rubin (born March 10 1963 in Long Island, New York), is an American record producer best known for his work with rap and heavy metal, as well as the "American series" albums with Johnny Cash. He was a major figure in the fusion of rap and hard rock, 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."What's Up With That Bearded Guy From The '99 Problems' Video? - MTV.com Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards said 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." Well known for collaborating with Red Hot Chili Peppers since Blood Sugar Sex Magik, his work with Thrash Metal band Slayer resulted in Reign In Blood, which is regarded by many as the best album of the Thrash Metal genre.Amazon.com Review

The Def Jam years

While a student at Long Beach High School he befriended the school's AV Director Steve Freeman. Mr. Freeman gave him a few lessons in guitar playing and songwriting and helped him create a punk band called "The Pricks". During his senior year Rubin founded Def Jam records using the school's four track recorder. Moving on to New York University he 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 label. The band played in and around the NYC punk scene, toured the Midwest and California, and played with seminal punk bands like the Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, the Circle Jerks and the Butthole Surfers. The band broke up in 1986 as Rubin's psion moved towards the NYC Hip Hop scene.

Having befriended Zulu Nation's DJ Jazzy Jay, Rubin began 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 distribute 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 first record released was LL Cool J's "I Need a Beat". Rubin went on to find more hip-hop acts outside The Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem including rappers from Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, which eventually led to Def Jam's signing of Public Enemy. "Rock Hard"/"Party's Gettin' Rough"/"Beastie Groove" EP by the Beastie Boys came out on 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 (sometimes called rapcore) 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, where he created 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 also 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 helped revive Cash's career following a fallow period. The formula was repeated for four more Cash albums: Unchained, Solitary Man, The Man Comes Around (the last album released before Cash's death), and A Hundred Highways. The Man Comes Around earned 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' "Hurt", later became 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 such as string sections, backup vocals, reverb, and instead having naked vocals and bare instrumentation. However, by the 2000's, Rubin style had been known to include such elements, as noted in the Washington 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".The 'Song Doctor' Is In - Washington Post

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 (the liner notes credit for the album read "Reduced by Rick Rubin" rather than the usual "Produced by Rick Rubin"). He later 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 with Tom Petty, AC/DC (on the album Ballbreaker) and Neil Diamond (on 12 Songs).

Albums in the 2000's, produced by Rick Rubin, have been criticized as containing more audio level compression and of containing too much clipping (c.f.: Loudness war) . Examples of this include Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) by Slipknot. It can be argued, though, that these artifacts usually come from mastering decisions and are not made by the producer. The mastering house is also generally chosen by the record label, not the producer.

Rubin relies heavily on arrangements and elements of sound. On this subject, 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."

Rubin's work has included the fusion of rap and hard rock/heavy metal as evidenced in his work with Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. Later examples of rap-rock work were Jay-Z's 2003 song "99 Problems" and Lil' Jon's 2004 song "Don't Fuck With Me". The latter sampled Slayer's "Mandatory Suicide" and "Reign in Blood", both originally produced by Rubin.

Another trademark has been having artists cover songs where the covering band's style is different from the original version of the song. 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.

He is currently producing the third Linkin Park album which is due in February of 2007. It's said that Rubin got the band out of the nu metal stigma that followed them through their last two albums.The next album is going to be completely different.

List of albums produced by Rick Rubin

1985: Radio - LL Cool J
1986: Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
1986: Raising Hell - Run-D.M.C.
1986: Reign in Blood - Slayer
1987: Electric - The Cult
1988: Danzig - Danzig
1988: Tougher Than Leather - Run-D.M.C.
1988: South of Heaven - Slayer
1988: Masters of Reality - Masters of Reality
1989: Dice - Andrew Dice Clay
1989: Live Fast, Die Fast - Wolfsbane
1990: Trouble - Trouble
1990: Danzig II: Lucifuge - Danzig
1990: Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
1991: Nobody Said It Was Easy - The Four Horsemen
1991: Manic Frustration - Trouble
1991: Decade of Aggression - Slayer
1991: Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
1992: Danzig III: How the Gods Kill - Danzig
1992: King King - Red Devils
1993: Thrall: Demonsweatlive - Danzig
1993: Wandering Spirit - Mick Jagger
1993: 21st Century Jesus - Messiah
1994: Danzig 4 - Danzig
1994: American Recordings - Johnny Cash
1994: Divine Intervention - Slayer
1994: Wildflowers - Tom Petty
1995: One Hot Minute - Red Hot Chili Peppers
1995: Ballbreaker - AC/DC
1995: God Lives Underwater - God Lives Underwater
1995: Empty - God Lives Underwater
1996: Songs and Music from "She's the One" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
1996: Unchained - Johnny Cash
1996: Undisputed Attitude - Slayer
1996: Sutras - Donovan
1998: "Let Me Give the World to You" - The Smashing Pumpkins (an unreleased song)
1998: Northern Star - Melanie C
1998: VH1 Storytellers - Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
1998: Diabolus in Musica - Slayer
1998: System of a Down - System of a Down
1998: Chef Aid - South Park
1999: Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
1999: Echo - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
1999: Loud Rocks - V/A ("Shame" by System of a Down and Wu-Tang Clan, "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothing Ta Fuck Wit" Tom Morello, Chad Smith and Wu-Tang Clan)
1999: The Globe Sessions - Sheryl Crow ("Sweet Child O'Mine")
2000: American III: Solitary Man - Johnny Cash
2000: Paloalto - Paloalto
2000: Renegades - Rage Against The Machine
2001: Amethyst Rock Star - Saul Williams
2001: The War of Art - American Head Charge
2001: Breath of the Heart - Krishna Das
2001: The Final Studio Recordings - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2001: Toxicity - System of a Down
2002: American IV: The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
2002: By The Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers
2002: Audioslave - Audioslave
2002: Steal This Album! - System of a Down
2003: Results May Vary - Limp Bizkit (with Terry Date and Jordan Schur)
2003: Unearthed - Johnny Cash
2003: Door of Faith - Krishna Das
2003: De-Loused in the Comatorium - The Mars Volta (with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez)
2003: The Black Album - Jay-Z ("99 Problems")
2003: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium - Rage Against the Machine
2003: Heroes and Villains - Paloalto
2004: Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) - Slipknot
2004: Armed Love - The (International) Noise Conspiracy
2004: Crunk Juice - Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz ("Stop Fuckin' Wit Me")
2005: Fijación Oral / Oral Fixation - Shakira
2005: Make Believe - Weezer
2005: Out of Exile - Audioslave
2005: Mezmerize - System of a Down
2005: Hypnotize - System of a Down
2005: 12 Songs - Neil Diamond
2006: Christ Illusion - Slayer
2006: Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
2006: Taking the Long Way - Dixie Chicks
2006: American V: A Hundred Highways - Johnny Cash
2006: FutureSex/LoveSounds - Justin Timberlake
2007: Untitled new album - The (International) Noise Conspiracy
2007: Linkin Park's third studio album - Linkin Park
2007: Untitled Metallica album - Metallica
2007: Untitled - U2
2007: American VI - Johnny Cash
2007: Heroes and Thieves - Vanessa Carlton (with Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius and Stephan Jenkins)Reid, Shaheem. "Irv Gotti Maps Out Inc. Comeback With Vanessa Carlton, Lloyd, Ja Rule". MTV News. November 28 2006. Retrieved November 30 2006.

Trivia

Rick Rubin appears in the Beastie Boys video for (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party) wearing Slayer, AC/DC, and Beastie Boys t-shirts.
Rubin can also be spotted in Jay Z's "99 Problems" video.
Rubin is a vegetarian.
Rubin also directed and had a role in the 1988 Run D.M.C. film Tougher Than Leather.
Rick Rubin also appears in the 1985 classic film, Krush Groove, as himself.