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Some believe Rick Rubin to be a genius. Others say he’s a fraud. Most people don’t know what to think about the legendary music producer who doesn’t play an instrument, doesn’t know how to work a soundboard and, self admittingly, knows nothing about music. 

His only task is to unlock the creative spirit of the musical artists he works with.

Today, Rubin is often seen tanned, with bare feet and wearing shorts, sporting a long white beard and wispy hair tossed around by the warm breeze in southern California’s Malibu. You can sometimes find him sitting in the lotus position on a cushion while meditating.  When he’s not meditating, or producing, he is sometimes in conversation with artists about the nature of creativity. He is endlessly curious, asking insightful questions and listening with his whole being, with a twinkle in his eye. 

In 1980, Rubin was in college but spent much of his time in the New York City underground clubs, intrigued by a new musical genre later to be called “hip hop.” Often disappointed by the recordings of these dynamic songs and performers, Rubin wanted to capture the energy and buzz he felt when hearing this music live. He decided to take matters into his own hands and produce and record these artists himself.  

One of the first artists he recorded was LL Cool J, a pairing which turned out to be wildly successful. So successful, in fact, that Rubin and others went on to form the now famous Def Jam Records and produce other bands such as Public Enemy and Beastie Boys. Rubin’s early genius was fusing together rap and rock.

Since then, Rubin has produced some of the most successful artists in music history, including Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Adele, Rage Against the Machine, Shakira, Dixie Chicks, U2, Justin Timberlake, Neil Diamond, Weezer, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Eminem, The Strokes, ZZ Top, Linkin Park, Jay-Z, and The Avett Brothers – just to name a few.

In 2007, Rubin was called “the most important producer of the last 20 years” and was named to Time’s list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” He has won 9 Grammy awards. 

pulls together all that he has learned about the creative process over the past 40 years while working with some of culture’s most important and successful artists, musicians and creators. You can read the book or listen to the audio version that has Rick Rubin narrating his own words. Both are worth savoring, and teach us how creativity is one way we image our creator. (5 hours, 45 minutes, Penguin Random House/Audible)