Rick Rubin, founder of Def Jam and legendary music man, was recently announced as an executive producer of Kanye West’s upcoming album, Yeezus. He took some time this week to detail the specifics of his contributions to Kanye’s project.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rubin opened up about how and why he was attached to the project.
“Kanye came over to play me what I assumed was going to be the finished album at three weeks before the last possible delivery date. We ended up listening to three hours of partially finished pieces,” he said. “The raw material was very strong but hadn’t yet come into focus…from what he played me, it sounded like several months more work had to be done. I joined the project because after discussing what he had played for me, he asked if I would be open to taking all of the raw material on and help him finish it.”
From there the renowned producer went to work helping Kanye define the album’s sound. “He wanted the music to take a stripped-down minimal direction,” Rubin said. “He was always examining what we could take out instead of put in.”
Rubin uses the experience of working on a song called “Bound” to explain his approach: “When he first played it for me, it was a more middle of the road R&B song, done in an adult contemporary style. Kanye had the idea of combining that track with a cool sample he had found and liked. I removed all of the R&B elements leaving only a single note baseline in the hook which we processed to have a punk edge in the Suicide tradition.”
He also emphasized his admiration for Kanye’s dedication and attentiveness to the craft of music-making: “He is pure in his art and in a form where so many choices artists make are often the result of business consideration. Kanye chooses to let his art lead," Rubin said. "I like it anytime an artist follows his own vision of a project and doesn’t use the cookie cutter template expected of most artists. Kanye proceeds on the road less traveled and I applaud him for it."
According to Rolling Stone, Kanye expressed similar feelings when asked about the experience of working with Rubin on the album. "It was good for me to go to the god, Rick Rubin, and play him my shit, ask him questions and allow him to take this project to an entirely new level," Kanye said at an album listening party in New York earlier in the week.
The result of their efforts will be revealed when Yeezus is released on June 18th.