In the recording industry, there are music producers — and then there’s Rick Rubin. In just 30 years, he’s made award-winning records with the biggest names across genres: from Johnny Cash to Kanye West, to Metallica.
For a man with such an expansive musical vocabulary, Rubin is a man of few words. Very few, perhaps from his many years of practicing transcendental meditation. When Kurt Andersen got the rare chance to talk with Rubin about his career in the business, we couldn’t resist asking him to play this free association game with us.
Can you match the music acts with Rubin’s descriptions? Listen to the audio above for the answers.
A. “Soulful”
B. “Activist”
C. “Hard”
D. “Cool”
E. “Artist”
F. “Classic”
G. “Aggressive”
H. “California”
I. “Fun”
J. “Wisdom”
Listen to the full interview on this weekend’s show.
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us raise $67,000 by the end of the year and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer to our goal!