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Photo: Max Montgomery

James Blake speaks with Rick Rubin about his new Covers EP. Since his debut album in 2011, the British-born James Blake has gone on to win England’s top musical honor, the Mercury Prize, and a Grammy. He’s also produced and collaborated with a ton of musicians including Jay-Z, Beyonce, Billie Ellish, and Travis Scott. A few years back in 2016 James flew from England to Malibu to work with Rick Rubin at Shangri-La. They worked together on his third album, The Colour In Anything. As you’ll hear in this conversation with Rick today, James Blake had a life-changing experience while working and living at Shangri-La. In fact, has made LA his home base ever since. James also recalls an embarrassing teenage experience that left him making music in secret for years. And tells Rick that recording his new EP of covers solidified his love of perfect pop songs.

Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear old and new interviews, often with bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcast

You can find some of our favorite James Blake songs HERE — enjoy!

The Hosts

Rick Rubin

In addition to being a podcast host, Frederick Jay “Rick” Rubin is an American record producer and former co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, he is the co-founder…

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is president and co-founder of Pushkin Industries. He is a journalist, a speaker, and the author of six New York Times bestsellers including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers,…

Justin Richmond

Justin Richmond is producer and co-host of the music podcast Broken Record with writer Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times editor Bruce Headlam, and music producer—and Def Jam co-founder—Rick Rubin. Justin…

Bruce Headlam

Bruce Headlam is one of the co-creators of the music podcast Broken Record. He worked at The New York Times for 19 years, including two years running the 50-person Video…