Rick Rubin

For other people with similar names, see Richard Rubin.

Rick Rubin
Rubin in 2006
Background information
Also known as	DJ Double R The Loudness King
Born	Frederick Jay Rubin (1963-03-10) March 10, 1963 Long Beach, New York, U.S.
Origin	Hempstead, New York, U.S.
Education	New York University
Genres	Hip-hop rock heavy metal country pop
Occupations	Record producer record executive
Instruments	Guitar drum machine
Works
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Def Jam American Columbia Warner Bros.
Signature

Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin (/ˈruːbɪn/, 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.