Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Rick Rubin discussed creativity, listening and getting the most out of ideas at the Qualtrics X4 conference.
- He emphasized creativity in daily decisions and deep listening to understand others.
- Rubin criticized "cookie-cutter ideas" and praised unique, revolutionary artistic approaches.
SALT LAKE CITY — You might not know him if you saw him out in public, but you've almost definitely felt his impact through music and culture.
Nine-time Grammy award-winning music producer Rick Rubin took the Qualtrics X4 stage Thursday, and while a tech conference may seem like an odd environment for a music industry icon, Rubin seemed right at home.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as Rubin has worked with an incredibly diverse catalog of musicians throughout his over four-decade career, including Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, Aerosmith, Adele, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Jay-Z, Eminem, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine and many, many more.
After co-founding Def Jam Records in the early 1980s, Rubin helped pioneer the mainstream birth of the hip-hop genre in the late 1980s with the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. In 2007, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, so he's certainly no stranger to pushing the envelope.
And Rubin, on Thursday, talked about all that and more when he descended — barefoot, mind you — onto the stage at the Salt Palace Convention Center to distill his wisdom with thousands of summit attendees.
Creativity
"Creativity is engaging intentionally with the choices that we make. I think all of us are creative. We make creative choices every day, and many people think of themselves as not creative and not artists, but anytime you decide to take a different route home or to solve any problem in life, you're making a creative decision," Rubin said.
Rubin is also the author of a New York Times bestselling book, "The Creative Act," where he takes a deep dive into his creative process.
He said he's "surprised as anyone that people reacted to it in the way they did," calling the book "odd."
"I also don't think of it as anything new. Most of the things I'm talking about in the book are ancient ideas. So it's not like they're my ideas. In the book, I'm reflecting on the things I've noticed from doing it for a long time, but it's not, there's nothing intellectual about it. It's just noticing what is really happening," Rubin said.
Listening
Noticing what is really happening, Rubin said, often comes down to really listening.
Across decades of listening to music of all genres, Rubin has developed some tips and tricks for doing so effectively. Instead of simply listening with his ears, Rubin closes his eyes and lets the music take over his whole body — feeling it, concentrating on it and doing his best to not let any other thoughts intrude.
He thinks this can be applied to listening to people, too.
"I know so many people who, when they listen, they're listening for, 'Do I agree with that or do I disagree with that?' As soon as they hear something they disagree with, they shut off," Rubin said. "And really, what listening is is suspending disbelief. The only purpose of listening is to do our best to understand what the other person is saying."
When you listen deeply and openly, Rubin said, people will tell you everything you need to know.
'Cookie-cutter ideas'
Rubin said that throughout his time in music, he's noticed a lot of record companies having "cookie-cutter ideas" that may have worked for one artist in the past and wanting to use that formula on upcoming artists.
The most interesting and revolutionary artists break through, Rubin noted, when they do things differently than what was done before them.
"With any of those new things, people are reviled, people are censored. I mean, in the early days of rap, the powers that be wanted it completely not to exist (and) censor it completely," Rubin said. "Anytime there's someone that wants something hidden and not talked about, chances are, the people who don't want it talked about are not the people who are fostering the best going forward."
But do tech executives fall into this same group in terms of creativity as musicians?
Rubin can see some similarities.
"They're clearly creative. I don't know if we can use the word artist or not, but they're clearly creative, and they have a vision," Rubin said. "And they're interesting. They have a different set of tools they're working with, but the thought process behind it is the same."
But across all walks of life and professions, Rubin said he found the most creative and productive times are when someone is focused on being the best version of himself or herself.
To explain, Rubin provided some context to what some have perceived throughout history as competition or a friendly rivalry between The Beach Boys and The Beatles.
"I don't even know if competition is the right word for what was going on between them because they so loved each other's work," Rubin said. "They weren't trying to beat the other people. They were inspired by everything. It was like asomething was winding upward because of the love and respect of each other. It's different than wanting to do better than someone. Wanting to do better than someone seems like a low vibration instinct for me. I think wanting to be the best version of yourself and being inspired by the people who are great seems like a healthier frame to live in."
