Can Rick Rubin Save Eminem?

[Hansen]

http://www.complex.com/music/2013/08/em ... zerk-mmlp2

"My job is to be a professional version of the outside world—a listener who is not attached to any of it, who doesn’t know the story of how it was written, who doesn’t know how it works, who doesn’t know why this is important to you."

Listening to Eminem now, and you'll hear someone whose love of the craft is apparent. You'll also hear someone who may have misidentified where his talents really lie, or who focused on only one or two of those talents, when there was a full package that made his earlier work so exciting. Rather than trying to make his verses seem effortless, it’s almost as if he’s now drawing attention to how much effort he’s putting into them.

There are a few ways to interpret "Berzerk." It is definitely a left-field choice in the context of current rap radio; from a stylistic POV, the return of the blonde hair and the pop culture references suggest he's going back to the basics of his own career. Sonically, the retro obsession is odd; beyond being Caucasian, and a known Beastie Boys fan, there isn't really a link between Em and the sounds of the early '80s. It's certainly an unexpected maneuver; if we're being optimistic, he's resetting the conversation to year zero.

And this is a particular strength of Rubin's. One of his recent projects was Black Sabbath's comeback 13, which ended up debuting at No. 1 on Billboard "Back in the day," Rubin told the Daily Beast, "Black Sabbath was essentially a jam band. That's how they wrote. And they had gotten away from that." Rubin's approach had been to bring the group back to the creative engine of their early success—not the literal sound, per se, but the mechanism that made them a band in the first place: jamming.

To Rubin, the artist's time spent as part of industry machinery creates its own problems. Rubin's role isn't to literally turn the artist into a retro act, but to locate the essence of what made their best work. "Slowly, over time, the creative process gets eroded, and it becomes something that’s just a window in the schedule instead of the most important thing that drives the whole train."

"People who’ve made a lot of records tend not to make records as good as the ones they made when they’re younger," Rubin continued. "When you’re young and you get to make your first record, or your second record, it’s the most important thing in your life."

[Trimss]

If Eminem called Rick Rubin, it's because he knows he needs an anti yes man.

[geoff]

Hopefully rubin will tell em if somethings shit

[Hansen]

I think it's exactly what Eminem needs at this point. Somone who can help him capture the same essence from his first albums.

[cryonseris]

Good.

[B.A.D.]

If Eminem called Rick Rubin, it's because he knows he needs an anti yes man.

Exactly

[FalseProphet]

While I still have high hopes for MMLP2, am I the only one who is discouraged by Rick Rubin being exec. producer? Honestly in my opinion Yeezus and Magna Carta were pretty bad, and while he of course isn't entirely to blame, he is the common denominator. I know Rubin has a long history of making awesome music, but it really seems like he's having an off year.

[Trimss]

While I still have high hopes for MMLP2, am I the only one who is discouraged by Rick Rubin being exec. producer? Honestly in my opinion Yeezus and Magna Carta were pretty bad, and while he of course isn't entirely to blame, he is the common denominator. I know Rubin has a long history of making awesome music, but it really seems like he's having an off year.

Rick Rubin and Jay admitted that Rubin didn't work on Magna Carta. He was just there for the publicity and for the ads.

With Yeezus.. I think he knows the project isn't all that good. He just tried to make it better than what it was.

[SG.]

While I still have high hopes for MMLP2, am I the only one who is discouraged by Rick Rubin being exec. producer? Honestly in my opinion Yeezus and Magna Carta were pretty bad, and while he of course isn't entirely to blame, he is the common denominator. I know Rubin has a long history of making awesome music, but it really seems like he's having an off year.

Rubin was barely involved in MCHG. He was in the ads, that's literally it.

[geoff]

MCHG wasn't that bad tho, yes it sucked but it was listenable. Yeezus on the other hand... If someone could explain to me how it was so bad with rubin behind it.

[OutlawƎ]

Trust Shady and Rubin guys

[Trimss]

MCHG wasn't that bad tho, yes it sucked but it was listenable. Yeezus on the other hand... If someone could explain to me how it was so bad with rubin behind it.

Rubin had like 10 days to make the album better, cut down samples, useless sounds, remove bad songs from the album etc..

He was under pressure and worked a lot so in the end he probably was like "oh fuck it if you want this song then just keep it" or something lol. With Eminem though, he has been working on it for a while. During the Yeezus interviews, he admitted that "he has an album coming in November that's a lot further along than Yeezus" or whatever

[FalseProphet]

Oh wow, didn't know that at all - thanks! Seems like some bizarrely false advertising they did for MCHG in that case, was Rubin even involved for that single with JT? And then they implied that he was part of the whole album when he wasn't?

It just seemed like Yeezus and MCHG had a similar sound that was going for a raw, unpolished feel - but ended up just sounding rushed and lazy. Can't fault Rubin for Yeezus sucking though I suppose, he even said in interviews how Kanye was writing last minute lyrics when the album was supposed to drop like 4 weeks later.

[geoff]

MCHG wasn't that bad tho, yes it sucked but it was listenable. Yeezus on the other hand... If someone could explain to me how it was so bad with rubin behind it.

Rubin had like 10 days to make the album better, cut down samples, useless sounds, remove bad songs from the album etc..

He was under pressure and worked a lot so in the end he probably was like "oh fuck it if you want this song then just keep it" or something lol. With Eminem though, he has been working on it for a while. During the Yeezus interviews, he admitted that "he has an album coming in November that's a lot further along than Yeezus" or whatever

Yeah fair enough I suppose. But why work on 2 projects at once surely thats a disaster waiting to happen.

[jsantoslive]

I think Rubin is going to be able to bring out something on Em that we haven't heard in a while. Although Berzerk seems so left field...I don't really think it is. I just think it feels like that BC we haven't heard something like this from him in a long time. I've been listening to Eminem since he came out with the SSLP and every album after and when I listen to Berzerk I feel how I once did listening to the MMLP so as I think this is just a tease I think the album is going to be really impressive providing that Rubin worked on the whole project with him and not just a few tracks. Can't wait to hear some interviews about the album. I've watched so many studio videos of Rick Rubin with bands like Linkin Park and dude knows how to make hit records...can't wait