Executive Decision: Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin is a record producer with a total net worth of $250 Million. He was born in in Long Beach New York and started a band in high school called “the Pricks”. They weren’t very successful and even got kicked off the stage at one point. His lasting impact on the music world has made him into one of the most successful music producers of all time.

He is the co-president of Columbia Records and co founded Def Jam with Russell Simmons. Rick was apart of the Hip Hop genre movement as he helped put it on the map. He has worked with artists of all types of genres. The major Hip Hop artists he’s produced for include LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, and Run-DMC.

In 2007, MTV called him “the most important producer of the last 20 years”, and the same year Rubin appeared on TIME‘s 100 Most Influential People in the World. As a producer, he is most known for his “stripped-down” sound. This style involves getting rid of the reverb, backing vocals, and string sections. As a result, the song has naked vocals and very little instrumentation.

Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons discussed the birth of Def Jam with Noisey a few years ago.

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