In a recent featured article with Rolling Stone, lgendary music producer and one of the founders of “Def Jam” — Rick Rubin — recently discussed his passion for pro wrestling and how it influenced one of his first acts, The Beastie Boys.
“There’s no question that, early on, the Beastie Boys were very influenced by pro wrestling,” Rubin said. “One-hundred percent. The idea of being bad-guy rappers, saying really outlandish things in interviews, that all came from a love of pro wrestling. We didn’t say it because it was true – we said it because it was entertaining.”
Rubin continued, “To me, it was performance art; we were as inspired by pro wrestling and Monty Python as we were music. I remember showing them videotapes of old matches, because I was the fan, and we’d laugh about the stuff on there.”
Rubin also spoke about how one wrestler in particular, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, influenced him with “the crazy things he’d say.”
“And at that time, there was a wrestling hotline, and we’d call and listen to prerecorded messages from Roddy Piper and get inspired by the crazy things he’d say,” Rubin added. “Kerry King [from Slayer] was really into wrestling, too. Later, I worked with Andrew Dice Clay, and he was a perfect heel.”
Check out the complete feature at RollingStone.com.
Comments
2 responses to “Legendary Music Producer Rick Rubin Talks About Roddy Piper Influencing Him, The Beastie Boys”