- Rubin, Rick
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▪ 2008born March 10, 1963, Long Island, N.Y.In keeping with his unflappable, bearded guru image, American record producer Rick Rubin chose to avoid the 2007 Grammy Award ceremony, and although he won the Grammy for best producer, he characterized the year as “not unusually special.” Nonetheless, Rubin exerted a quiet dominance on the industry's sales charts. He had production credit on two of the five nominees for album of the year (the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium) and had contributed to a third (Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds).Rubin grew up listening to heavy metal and early punk, and he frequently took the train into Manhattan from his Long Island home to see New York punk pioneers the Ramones. While a student at New York University, he became interested in rap and immersed himself in the local scene. In 1983 he produced his first single, “It's Yours,” by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay. Its success as a dance track in local nightclubs inspired him to create his own label, Def Jam Records. After hearing “It's Yours,” Russell Simmons, who was already a rising star in the hip-hop scene, joined Rubin at Def Jam. The two, based in Rubin's dormitory room, collected demo tapes from aspiring rappers and disc jockeys. In 1984 they had their first hit with LL Cool J's “I Need a Beat,” a single that sold 100,000 copies. Rubin created Def Jam to fill a niche that the mainstream recording industry had ignored, but when its sales topped 300,000 albums in 1985, the major labels took notice. Columbia Records placed Rubin and Simmons under contract, and Def Jam's roster expanded to include the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and Run-D.M.C. (a group that included Simmons's brother Joseph).Rubin left Def Jam in 1988 over a disagreement about the structure of the label's relationship with Columbia. He moved to Los Angeles and founded a new label, Def American, with the heavy metal acts Slayer and Danzig as his first artists. In 1991 he guided the Red Hot Chili Peppers to multiplatinum success with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and with that success he established himself as a performer's producer. Whereas Phil Spector's work was characterized by the “wall of sound” and Sam Phillips made a career of the “Sun Sound,” there was no particular aural quirk that could be called “Rubinesque.” His presence in the studio simply seemed to make good artists better.Rubin's gift was perhaps most clearly demonstrated in 1993, when country legend Johnny Cash was at the nadir of his popularity, having been dropped by his label and facing an audience that was seemingly indifferent to his brand of music. The 1994 release American Recordings (Rubin had dropped the “Def” from the label's name the previous year) was a surprise smash hit. This success marked the beginning of a partnership that would earn five Grammy Awards and restart Cash's career. The 2002 release American IV: The Man Comes Around included Cash's interpretation of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt.” The song, released only months before Cash's death, was transformed by Rubin from an industrial rock anthem into a poignant elegy, further demonstrating his ability to transcend genre. Through the 2000s Rubin continued to lend his talents to established performers such as Neil Diamond, Jay-Z, and Tom Petty. In May 2007 he was named cochairman of Columbia Records.Michael Ray
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Universalium. 2010.
