Why does rick rubin have a beard

Pillow cushioning his back. One leg crossed over the other, foot jogging gently. One hand on his Buddha-like belly, the other arm over his head.

Eyes closed, head nodding. Man, he really wants you to say Buddha-like. Shangri-La does confirm, however, that Rubin and the Strokes met, and spoke.

Too bad. Mike D makes a genial appearance in Shangri-La , commiserating with Rubin about how the Beasties, for a time, became the macho dopes they were trying to make fun of. Rick Rubin showed up for 45 minutes a week. I swear to God. And he had shades on the whole time. Never mind the fact that there is no sun in the room. I liked punk rock music and for me, hip-hop was black punk, and I like white punk and black punk equally.

I like fringe music. It just seemed like, at the moment in time while I was at NYU, the punk scene was kind of waning and the hip-hop scene was thriving. If it had been five years before, I probably would have produced punk rock first. Who made the decision to terminate the sessions? We never really got started. We sat in a rehearsal room for a couple of days. I remember the first day we worked together he told me that before he came to the studio he tested different Marshall heads before he selected the one that was right for him.

I know you meditated with Serj [System of a Down singer Tankian] while making their new album. Did you ever pump iron with Danzig while making any of his albums? Never did. How has the advent of [cut-and-paste, computerized production software] ProTools aided or hindered the recording process? It makes a lot of things, editing, very easy. Were you, or are you still, a proponent of booty-rap?

Do you like big butts? I like great music, and I think Mix-A-Lot is a tremendous artist. Well-done on the eggs, scrambled, side of salsa and side of guacamole, red bell peppers. Organic, super-duper eggs. From Santa Barbara. A few minutes later, the eggs arrive. Famished from my two reps, I dive in, but Rick pokes at his plate and furrows his forehead. He calls over the waitress. Rick Rubin eats no cheese. The waitress goes for the manager, who runs into the kitchen and then over to our table.

He gives a seated version of the Buddha bow. He begins to eat and then asks me a question. He took the job four years ago when the music industry was flatlining. The era of the album was dead. Record execs were desperate, so desperate that Columbia hired him as co-chairman with terms that give unconditional surrender a bad name.

Their new hire was free to keep producing other artists whether they were on Columbia or a competitor. He would never have to come to the office or even have an office phone. However, he stipulated that Columbia move the office he would not frequent from Santa Monica to a more — according to Rick — karma-cool I.

Pei—designed space in West L. He flashed a vexed look when I asked about the move. The answer turned out to be a resounding no. In his first three years on the job, Rick Rubin produced bands that have sold eight million units, but only 1. But his connection to Columbia is vague. I have no interest in fighting. I have all this energy for positive change. No one has ever described a corporate freeze-out in such a benign way.

Rick has boards already down on the beach. We walk the boards down to the water. Oh, there he is, 50 yards out to sea! He has a giant smile on his face, his beard trailing behind him.

Rick gives a friendly wave and keeps paddling. They talk out songs and then he disappears, only popping in when the band is playing live and for the vocals.

Some bands love it; some feel abandoned. Twenty minutes later Rubin sails into shore. We hoof the boards back up the beach. He is far ahead of me. I ask him if this pace of physical exertion is sustainable for the rest of his life.

I like who I am now. I would never go back. But people get tired of their gurus. Wilson eventually got free of his, Dr. Eugene Landy, sick of his mind games and tendency to take songwriting and production credits. We head up the beach, and a muscled middle-aged man appears in front of us.

Rubin is intrigued. You pick it up and throw it. But he regains his footing and tosses the ball onto the hot sand. Inside, a construction crew is hard at work remodeling a wing of the house. Incense burns. The white bed is on the white floor. Two nightstands hold identical glass bottles of water in exactly the same spot. There are two giant white beanbag-like contraptions at the foot of the bed. A white tub looks out onto the sea.

Some of them get angry, but most agree that I make the space better. Rick has never been married and has an unseen girlfriend. And that status was affixed without an expiration date. Jay Z did the same thing this summer in the Samsung ads for Magna Carta … Holy Grail , deploying Rubin like Moses of Malibu to publicly christen a project he otherwise played no part in creating. What mattered to Jay and Em is what Rubin signifies as a prop — for people of a certain age, seeing Rubin gives you that old feeling all over again, and he can transfer that indelible sensation to others in his orbit.

What Rubin possesses is the single most valuable commodity in popular music right now. What Rick Rubin possesses transcends who he is as a person. After that, Rubin dutifully set about making Kid Rock seem respectable and Josh Groban somewhat edgy.

Sessions for a Crosby, Stills, and Nash covers album ended acrimoniously after Rubin tried to dictate how many Beatles songs David Crosby was allowed to sing.