![]() ![]() Dre–Jimmy Iovine doc The Defiant Ones, full-throatedly buffs Rubin’s aura even when it’s half-jokingly attempting to puncture it. Shangri-La, a self-consciously flashy cousin to HBO’s way better 2017 Dr. (Dig the grand piano next to the pool table where Rick Danko held court in The Last Waltz.) The trailer treats Rubin like he’s a walking, murmuring, transcendental-meditating Jordan Peele movie. His reputation does not precede him so much as subsume him his primary instrument is his own unfathomable myth.ĭig Morgan Neville’s four-part 2019 Showtime documentary Shangri-La, named after the aforementioned gorgeous and historically momentous Malibu studio Rubin long ago commandeered. Or, my favorite: Rick Rubin napping in the background (look carefully!) as an amped-up System of a Down cavort at incredible volume.Įven after you’ve absorbed the history-from Def Jam to American Recordings, from ubiquity to relative seclusion, from Grammys to Grammys to more Grammys, from hip-hop to metal and back again-it is awfully tough to pinpoint what exactly this person does, what makes him a deity, what makes him necessary. (“It’s worth pursuing even though you don’t like it.”) Rick Rubin bouncing sagely on an exercise ball as he shepherds minor English troubadour Jake Bugg. Mix it up but keep it really simple.”) Rick Rubin soothing an internally and externally rattled Dixie Chicks, who seem to hate the song they’re playing for him. ![]() Rick Rubin counseling Flea on the bass fills to the Red Hot Chili Peppers jam “Give It Away.” (“Just keep ’em really simple: BA-DUM. Studio footage of this person doing his thing is endlessly rewarding, especially when the thing he is doing is an endless and somehow profound amount of nothing. He is a man with nothing but time, a slovenly mystic who regards time (and producing) as a construct. Here on the occasion of Corbin Reiff’s gargantuan ranking of Rubin’s 40-year-wide discography-Run-DMC’s Raising Hell over Tom Petty’s Wildflowers is a hard but necessary choice-it is a fine time to reassess Rick Rubin, Superproducer. That’s how very little work registers as the hardest work of all. (Jay-Z: “That’s money.”) If Rick Rubin had assisted no superstars and done absolutely no work in the previous two decades (Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Slayer, Johnny Cash, Blood Sugar Sex Magik) or the two decades or so to come (Dixie Chicks, Avett Brothers, Adele, Black Sabbath, Yeezus), his superproducer rep would still be assured for I’m thinkin’ we start “99 Problems” a cappella alone. It’s like watching someone casually invent fire, or money. I’m thinkin’ maybe we start with the line “Call me Ishmael.” I’m thinkin’ maybe we combine chocolate and peanut butter. I’m thinkin’ maybe we etch the 10 Commandments onto these stone tablets. The Top 100 Albums in the Rick Rubin Extended Universe, Ranked “Yeah, that’s-that’s money,” Jay-Z agrees. BAUUUM.” That’s the sound of the full backing track jackhammering in. ![]() Rubin traces the air with one finger, non-rapper-style, as he raps the words: “If you’re havin’ girl problems, I feel bad for you, son. See if you can guess what song they’re talking about. This is documentary studio footage for Jay’s 2003 opus The Black Album. He is addressing Jay-Z, who is, as it happens, getting his mustache trimmed. “I’m thinkin’ maybe we start a cappella,” muses superproducer Rick Rubin, hair disheveled, beard resplendent, aura immaculate. What kills you is how casually he says it. Check out our ranking of the top 100 records in his discography. The Ringer is celebrating the long and influential career of superproducer Rick Rubin, the man who cofounded Def Jam and founded American Recordings, helped define the sound of hip-hop, breathed new life into the career of Johnny Cash, and made a bunch of records with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. ![]()
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