I and Me (and Rick and Johnny)

I have had some experiences with Rick Rubin when I worked at MOG. I've also listened to a bunch of music that he has worked on. I've really liked some of it, and really disliked some of it, too.

I have a tempered respect for the man.

This Daily Beast article captures his better sides, and is worth reading just for this:

What do you remember most vividly about working with Cash? 

On our first album, there was a song he wrote, I can’t remember which one it was, but I listened to it and said, “Do you think you could take some of the ‘I’s and ‘me’s out of it?” And he thought about it and he was like, “Yeah, I think I can do that.” And he did. So 10 years later, I’m visiting him in Nashville. He’s in a wheelchair. He’s blind, pretty much. It felt so awkward. So I said, “What have you been working on lately?” And he said, “I’ve been working on using ‘I’ and ‘me’ less.” And I said, “Really?” And he said, “Yeah. Remember? You gave me that comment on the song? That’s what I’ve been working on.” Incredible. He didn’t mean it in the context of songs. He meant it in the context of life.

I am working on using "I" and "me" less, too.

P.S. The new Kanye West album is really great production coupled to totally inane and largely hook-free songs.