Kanye West New Album 'Yeezus': Producer Rick Rubin Talks New Album 2013, Working with Prolific Rapper

Ahead of its leak earlier today, Kanye West was distinctly hush-hush on his upcoming album, Yeezus. It was not until earlier this week that West disclosed some of the people who helped him on his sixth studio album. Among the collaborators and producers was Rick Rubin.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the legendary producer, who has worked with the likes of the Beastie Boys, described his role as an executive producer on Yeezus, which began when West played him parts of his album just three weeks before the album's delivery date.

"We ended up listening to three hours of partially finished pieces.  The raw material was very strong but hadn't yet come into focus.  Many of the vocals hadn't been recorded yet, and many of those still didn't have lyrics.  From what he played me, it sounded like several months more work had to be done," he said. "I joined the project because after discussing what he had played for me, he asked if I would be open to taking all of the raw material on and help him finish it."

West's progress on Yeezus always seemed to come together at the last minute. According to Rubin, West finished five songs in two hours, after the rapper attended girlfriend Kim Kardashian's baby shower and before he had to catch a plane to Milan.

"He said, 'Don't worry, I will score 40 points for you in the fourth quarter.' In  the two hours before he had to run out to catch the plane, he did exactly that: finished all the lyrics and performed them with gusto. A remarkable feat," Rubin told WSJ.

It's a remarkable feat, indeed. Rubin remarked that West is "a true artist" and went for a more minimalist direction on Yeezus, a brave choice considering the current, highly produced trend in hip-hop and rap.

In a continuation of praising Yeezy and Yeezus, Rubin applauded the rapper's promotional decisions, most notably in not releasing a single ahead of the album's drop date.

"He didn't want a premeditated commercial (single) for his album as he looks at it as a body of work," said Rubin. "I like it anytime an artist follows his own vision of a project and doesn't use the cookie cutter template expected of most artists."