Give Kid Rock an hour to talk about Cocky, his first new studio album since 1998's Devil Without a Cause, and he spends most of that time raving about the new jams that didn't make the record, like "In Your Lifetime," a eulogy for his late MC, Joe C., and the stomping "American Beauty," cut with Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson just before his death last July. "I had thirtysome songs," says Rock, a.k.a. Bob Ritchie, 30. Fourteen ended up on the randy, schizo Cocky, a record equally divided between pimp-metal rap and the country-blues reflection of "Lonely Road of Faith" and "Picture," a duet with Sheryl Crow. "Rap and country - it's the same idea," Rock says. "When I started out, it was like, 'You want to make rap or country songs? We can't market all this shit.' I said, 'It'll work, it'll work.' "

Did you call the new album Cocky just to see the word "cock" at the top of the charts?

[Laughs] It's very Beavis and Butt-head. But one of the things that inspired me was Muhammad Ali. How much fun was that guy? "Joe Frazier can't hit me - I'm too pretty." He was off the wall, but he backed it up. The other thing was, I sounded cocky on my last record, which was a forecast: "I'm going platinum." But I went ten-times platinum. In hindsight, wasn't I being modest?

One new song, "Drunk in the Morning," is about depression. But your fans want to hear about how bad you are, not how bad you feel.

I wrote that at Christmas Eve last year. My son was at his mom's. I was all alone. I was really depressed. I don't get depressed much. I'm a pretty upbeat guy. But sometimes you experience so many wonderful things in such a short time. You think, "Man, what else is there to do? I've done everything."

There's one way left to go: down.

Totally. I think about it every day. And I'm prepared to walk away. The only thing I want to do is make sure my band and the people close to me are taken care of financially. That's my goal. Then I can walk away. I promise I won't put the band together in twenty years and do a reunion tour. I'll go away and let some other kids come up. I'll only be here as long as people want me.

Let's talk about that super-X-rated verse with you, Bill Clinton and the stewardess in the "Cocky" bonus track, "WCSR" ["World Class Sex Rhyme"]. You've met the ex-president. How will you explain that the next time you see him?

Anybody who takes that seriously needs help [laughs]. I didn't vote for Clinton, but I respect anybody who takes a job like that, to try and run a world like this. I respect the guy who goes to the auto plant every day, too. And if I can poke fun at him, then I can poke fun at the guy whose bills I pay with my tax money. That's one of my freedoms as an American that I'm thankful for.

Is your dad cool with you calling him a dick in "You Never Met a Motherf*cker Like Me"?

I'm sure it's not his favorite song [laughs]. He knows that's how I felt when I was younger. At the same time, I'm thankful for the fact that he made me work every fucking weekend - up at seven in the morning, hauling brush, chopping wood. One time, he gave me a job at his used-car dealership. I was like, "Awesome, a real job." I get down there, and he says, "Pick up all the papers around the lot." I wanted to sell cars.

What was it like singing with John Mellencamp at the Concert for New York City? Suddenly, here's Kid Rock in the middle of Dad Rock - the Who, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney.

I had a few too many beers. I saw the playback and went, "Whoa, you're out of key." You go out and do these things with no rehearsal. But, I figure, you hit some notes - some you don't. It's called being live.

It's amazing to be with these people. That night, I got to sit with Buddy Guy. We're sipping Hennessy and getting real deep. He's like, "I like you, man. You're a real bluesman, and you don't even know it."

I was talking to Mick Jagger at the MTV Awards. I'd had a few drinks [laughs]. I'm going, "What are you doing here? You don't need this shit. You're in the Stones, dude." I'm giving him advice! He's like, "Somebody shut him up." But I think they know that I've got so much respect for them.

Do you think you were born two decades too late, that you're a Seventies rock star at heart?

Maybe I was born at the right time, when people needed me [laughs]: "We're gonna save you for this decade, because they might need ya. We got as many as we need for this one." So be it. Hopefully, I'll do a good job and not let anybody down.

[From Issue 1047 ͷ January 17, 2002]