Rick Rubin

Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin (, ROO-bin; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip-hop by producing records for pioneering acts such as LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Public Enemy and Geto Boys. He has also produced hit records for acts from a variety of other genres such as pop, heavy metal, hard rock, nu metal and country. His signature production style is stripped-down to the essentials, eschewing excessive reverb and sonic layering. He has been criticized for contributing to the loudness war by overusing compression and limiting, and mastering his tracks at very high levels. In 2007, Rubin was called "the most important producer of the last 20 years" by MTV and was named on Time's 2007 list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World". In 2026, Rubin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.