Rick Rubin, one of the most famous music producers in both the hip-hop and rock genres, co-founder of Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons, almost single handedly started the commercialization of hip-hop in the mid-’80s. But on top of producing epic albums for the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Sir-Mix-a-Lot, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy (albums that put each of these artists on the map), Rubin has also signed and produced some of the biggest in the rock genre as well, producing the first major albums by Slayer and Danzig, as well as the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s breakthrough album “Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”Surely with his great career, Rubin should be praised. But by the end of 2007, Rubin will have produced 87 albums without any delays whatsoever. Bands like that, while Rubin is producing, he allows them to be themselves without much interruption. He is famous for his bare bone style of production. Meaning, he gets rid of all the “over production,” like adding string instruments and reverberation into the music to give it an added element. In some cases, this can be a very good thing. But even if Rubin gives these bands an element of free reign when making their albums, they choose Rubin because he is so good at keeping music simple. Thus, this simplicity in music is causing bands to stagnate and their musical pursuits stop the search for new revolutionary sounds.The last truly revolutionary band that Rubin produced for was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Aside from them, Rubin hasn’t really done much for the forward progression of music.Yes, he has saved bands from breaking up, like Slipknot, a band on the verge of retiring before Rubin produced “Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verse)”. And yes, he has brought artists back to recognition after a slump (like AC/DC, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash), but even with this, he hasn’t helped create something totally unheard of. That is why homegrown bands are the future of music. A prime example is the “hyphy” movement. It has revolutionized hip-hop into an even more club friendly style of music as well as music that can be listened to while sitting in traffic on interstate 280 in the mornings. The Indie bands are the future of music, for they are the bands that start out making music for the love of music. Those who use their own style of production instead of going to someone else to produce their music are the ones that will send their genre into the next evolutionary stage of music. What’s more is that these bands can come from anywhere, even the Skyline campus. Music should reflect an artist’s imagination and beliefs, and Rubin does help his musicians get back in touch with that, but at the same time, he stalls the creative processes that comes with making mistakes and discoveries. That is how music is made, not through the constant “Rubinization” of music.