Rick Rubin’s single favourite song of the 21st century: “They perfected it!”
Rick Rubin, the producer who once famously self-proclaimed to “know nothing” except “what I like and what I don’t like”, has a surprisingly impressive track record and a keen eye for detail despite his clear lack of self-awareness.
In fact, as one of the greatest producers in the world, Rubin is a living example of the benefits of trusting your instincts and creating art based on nothing other than inherent feeling.
That philosophy has allowed Rubin to move effortlessly between genres that might appear incompatible on paper. Rather than focusing on technical conventions, he searches for emotional truth, helping artists uncover the essence of what makes their music resonate.
What is particularly intriguing about Rubin’s approach is the intuition of it all – the producer doesn’t rely on learned aspects of creativity; he simply follows his own pattern of thinking before arriving at places, perhaps even he didn’t anticipate. The result is often as surprising as the process itself, as is the variation, with songs under his belt ranging from Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’ to Johnny Cash’s ‘Hurt’.
This also means that any compilation list rounding up Rubin’s greatest musical contributions is undoubtedly going to be eclectic, including genres varying from hard rock to upbeat pop. Rubin’s catalogue is perhaps the most impressive part of his studio output. The man has rarely found himself settled in one space and, instead, chooses to experiment whenever he sees fit.
This decision to consistently make moves into new spaces allows Rubin’s work to truly flourish in a way no other producer can hope to come close to. However, Rubin’s own personal favourites may seem a bit more straight down the line, with various rock outfits like The Beatles taking up top spots among his favourites.
Discussing the Fab Four, Rubin holds them in particularly high regard, once even describing them as “proof of the existence of God”. If that wasn’t high praise enough, Rubin knows the importance of foundation when it comes to music, naming Johann Sebastian Bach as someone who is impossible not to speak about when discussing musical greats.
Although many of Rubin’s favourite songs are quintessential hallmarks of the 20th century, one of his most recent favourites is LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Us V Them’. Describing the band as the “sound of New York”, he explained: “This song represents my time in New York, when I was going to NYU, and I was going out to Danceteria every night with the Beastie Boys and with Run DMC and with LL Cool J, and there was this incredible dance music scene going on that had groups like Liquid Liquid and ESG.”
He also said that, while they were “not yet a band” at the time, LCD Soundsystem epitomised the New York music scene and became, in Rubin’s view, “the best version of any of this music! They perfected it”.
As one of the most prominent dance groups of the early 2000s, LCD Soundsystem infused electronic dance beats with a cool and quirky edge, marking the turn of a new hipster movement that would ignite the forthcoming indie revival.
Sound of Silver was a particularly important release for the band, which saw James Murphy injecting the music with a more raw, emotional edge. ‘Us V Them’ is an interesting standout because, amid the undeniably groovy and endearing rhythmic beats, it proved that the band could simultaneously be introspective and layered, a difficult feat considering the separate strands of alternative and electronic music that were blossoming at the turn of the century.
Rubin’s love for the track is a strong signifier of what he holds dearest in the world of music, and that is movement. It doesn’t really matter which way a band or artist is heading as long as they are confident enough in themselves to take the step. Even now, Rubin remains committed to seeking out the artists who desire to evolve over any sort of safe pair of hands.
