Kid Rock

Who put the baw in the bawitdaba da-bang-ga-dang diggy-diggy? His name is Kid Rock, baby, and he hit the big time on Devil Without a Cause, a trailer trash triumph of metal guitars, hip-hop beats, and I'm-an-American-band egomania. In scuzzbag anthems such as "Bawitdaba," "Cowboy," and "I Am the Bullgod," the Kid comes on looser and funnier than the rap-metal competition, probably because he doesn't nurse any psychosexual grudges against the world: All he wants to do is rock like Amadeus for his Detroit playas. For all its boozy wallop, the music is full of clever details -- "Cowboy" swipes its piano solo from the Doors' "L.A. Woman," while "Bawitdaba" mixes up the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" and the Marcels' "Blue Moon" like it ain't no thing. Giving love to minimum-wage lawn mowers and Heidi Fleiss and topless dancers and midnight glancers, crooning his own ersatz Skynyrd ballad "Only God Knows Why," Kid Rock is a one-man grand funk railroad. And when he urges his peeps, "Get in the pit and try to love someone!" he ain't joking.

Kid Rock had actually been around for years already, even if nobody outside the Detroit methadone clinics had ever heard of him. His early albums are clever ("I like bean burritos from Taco Bell/I like trippin' on acid with Dick Vitale"), but not as much fun as Devil. The Bullgod celebrated his breakthrough with The History of Rock, a collection of odds and sods from his past, most either remixed or rerecorded entirely. The material wasn't quite dope enough to sell his new fans on the theory that he was a neglected master back when he was taking up fanzine ad space alongside early-'90s hip-hop not-quites like Downtown Science, Dream Warriors, Poor Righteous Teachers, and the Afros. The highlight was the brand-new "American Badass," which shouts out to Johnny Cash and Grandmaster Flash, David Allan Coe, and No Show Jones. Cocky was a weak followup, playing down the hip-hop and taking the Southern-rock ballads way too seriously. Kid Rock went even further into country-style guitar rock, but with better songs, including the Hank Williams Jr. duet "Cadillac Pussy" and a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love." But Kid Rock will clearly remain a star on sheer momentum, a Murder City madman with Pabst Blue Ribbon in his veins. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide