Rick Rubin: Producer of the Year

If you've been reading MKinMotion.com for a while now, you will know that I have a fascination with the role a record producer plays in the creation of music. I've written posts about T-Bone Burnett, Daniel Lanois, George Martin, and the title producer Rick Rubin. While Rubin won the Grammy for Producer of the Year, he also produced the Dixie Chicks album that won in several categories. He produced Stadium Arcadium, Johnny Cash's American V: A Thousand Highways, Neil Diamond's 12 Songs and a track on Justin Timberlake's album. Shakira performed at the Grammy's too , and her album has production credits from Rick Rubin.
The track record speaks for itself with such albums as Tom Petty's Wildflowers, The Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik, LL Cool J's Radio, The Beastie Boys' License to Ill, and Run DMC's Raising Hell. Along with this year's Grammy attention, Rubin is a pretty solid lock to produce the next U2 album. 2007 will also see a new Rubin produced Metallica album and the final Johnny Cash set of American recordings.
His ability to take artists as diverse as Justin Timberlake, The Dixie Chicks and Red Hot Chili Peppers and improve the sound of the elements of their music has been well documented, but is not more recognized by the industry than ever.