Rick Rubin is the most famous music producer in history. He has produced music for JayZ, Eminem, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, among many others. Given this pedigree, what's most surprising about him is how little he actually knows about music.
In this 60 Minutes interview clip, Rubin claims to know nothing about music, not to be able to play any instruments, and not to have any technical ability.
Huh?
But, he claims to know two things intimately:
What he doesn't like and what he does like (taste)
How to confidently express this taste in a helpful way to artists
What's going on here?
Why would the world's top artists clamor to work with someone who knows so little about music?
The answer is that Rubin has an incredibly important and under-appreciated skill —connoisseurship.
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