Rick Rubin Dishes On 'Rap God' Eminem, Being White in Hip-Hop

Rick Rubin's 2013 return to hip-hop has been highlighted by the producer's superb work on two of the genre's most-anticipated albums, Kanye West's Yeezus and Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

Prior to this year, Rubin had not worked on a hip-hop record since he assisted Jay Z for "99 Problems," making "Rap God" Eminem's no. 1 album a crowning achievement for a man who has been out of the game for quite some time. Rubin recently spoke with Shade 45's DJ Whoo Kid and Peter Rosenberg about what it was like to come back to rap after his long absence and current the state of hip-hop. He also opened up about the first time he met Russell Simmons, who was surprised that Rubin was white.

"There was nobody white at that time in this world, so it was interesting," Rubin told Rosenberg.

It was recently announced that Rubin will also be working on West's next album alongside G.O.O.D. Music's Q-Tip.

More on The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Eminem recently stopped by BBC 1 for an interview with Zane Lowe, speaking with the host about his new album and life experiences since the 2010 release of his album, Recovery. The "Rap God" also picked up a mic for BBC 1, performing some classic tracks, including "Stan" and his Recovery track "Not Afraid," which discusses the rapper's change of ways.

Check out the video below.

Eminem also recently unveiled the official music video for "Rap God," the rapper's most controversial track from The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

In the Rich Lee-directed video, Em gets his Max Headroom on, transforming into the fictional British artificial intelligence for the unique visual. The Detroit rapper also makes some references to George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, mind control and surveillance.

Next up will be the music video for the rapper's "Monster" hit with Rihanna.

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 has achieved certified platinum status just two weeks after its release, according to Billboard.

The 40-year-old secured 792k sales in its debut week, which made the climb to 1 million records sold relatively easy this week. The MMLP2 track "Berzerk" snagged platinum honors back in October and "The Monster" featuring Rihanna looks to be headed to similar success. The duo previously hit 11-times platinum status with their track "Love the Way You Lie." Despite posting the second-highest first week sales of 2013, Em's album was knocked out of the top spot this week by Lady Gaga's new release, ARTPOP. He has since regained the top spot, finishing first in the Billboard rankings in MMLP2's third week on shelves.

The Detroit native has been a force on the singles charts, with four tracks featured simultaneously in the top 20 and ten featured on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Slim Shady's new hits make him the first artist since the Beatles in 1964 to have four songs concurrently highlighted on the Billboard Top 20 chart, a feat that also helped him pass the legendary rockers for the title of best selling artist of the past decade.

His top single, "The Monster" featuring Rihanna leads the album's top 20 singles, followed by "Rap God," Berzerk," "Survival," "Beautiful Pain," "Love Game," "Headlights," "Bad Guy," "Rhyme or Reason," and "Legacy."

Marshall Mathers LP 2 gives Em seven number one albums, with his only miss being Curtain Call: The Hits, which peaked at number two.

According to Billboard, Eminem is the fifth artist to have ten singles on the chart simultaneously since it adopted its "current sales/airplay/streaming methodology" 13 months ago. The other four are also rappers: Drake (who has done it four times), Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz.