The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Frederick “Rick” Jay Rubin was born in Long Beach, New York, on March 10, 1963. In high school, he played in a punk-rock band called The Pricks. In one performance, the band was kicked off the stage for their behavior. After high school, he attended New York University (NYU). While at NYU, he founded Def Jam Records and started learning how to produce hip-hop music. To help in this pursuit, he teamed up with Russell Simmons, who became cofounder of Def Jam, and went on to a successful career as an executive and record producer for hip-hop music. In the early years, Rubin and Def Jam produced music for notable acts like LL Cool J, Run-DMC, The Beastie Boys, and Jay-Z. Eventually, Rubin broke off from Def Jam and moved to Los Angeles to start another recording company. He also started to produce music for heavy metal, rock, and punk-rock bands. Notably, in 1994, he recorded Johnny Cash’s comeback album, American Recordings, to commercial and critical success. In this period, he produced for the Red Hot Chili Peppers (on six studio albums), Nine Inch Nails, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, while garnering numerous awards. In the 21st century, Rubin assumed the role of co-head at Columbia Records. He continued his work with popular bands, such as Linkin Park, U2, Metallica, Green Day, Neil Diamond, Weezer, and Adele. In the 2020s, Rubin agreed to produce with Endeavor Content to further establish his own Shangri-La Recording Studios at his home in Malibu, California.

Rubin’s professional work has intersected with and influenced the most notable acts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. What makes Rubin unique is not only his tremendous success, but also his unorthodox approach to music production. Rubin claims to barely play instruments and has little technical skill when operating a soundboard. Rubin’s gift is his ability to express his feelings about music to artists. His articulation of taste in precise terms comes from his capacity to listen and pay attention to exactly what the artists and their music need at a given time. Rubin’s style of producing values the expression of emotion over technical aptitude. Rubin has garnered respect from his peers and collaborators throughout the years. However, he is not immune to criticism. Some critics have blamed Rubin for his hands-off approach and his contribution to the increase of general loudness in recorded music. Loudness in recordings occurs when the music is compressed (amplification of quiet sounds) and clipped (delivery of an output beyond volume capacity). These factors increase the dynamic range (the ratio between the smallest and largest values of sound that can be recorded) in a song. Rubin has been implicated in this phenomenon, titled the “loudness wars,” a trend of increasingly louder audio levels in recorded music that reached its zenith in the 21st century. Despite these criticisms, Rubin continues to work with the best and most talented artists in the world. The advancement of the philosophy behind the success of his prolific career becomes the purpose and intention of The Creative Act.