 One of the unlikeliest success stories
in rock at the turn of the millennium, Detroit rap-rocker
Kid Rock shot to superstardom with his fourth
full-length album, 1998's Devil
Without a Cause. What made it so shocking was that
Kid Rock had recorded his first demo a full decade before,
been booted off major label Jive following his
Beastie Boys-ish 1990 debut, Grits Sandwiches for
Breakfast, and toiled for most of the decade in obscurity,
releasing albums to a small, devoted, mostly local fan base
while earning his fair share of ridicule around his home
state. Nevertheless,
Kid Rock persevered, and by the time rap-metal had begun to
attract a substantial audience, he had perfected the
outlandish, over the top white-trash persona that gave Devil
Without a Cause such a distinctive personality and made it
such an infectious party record.
Bob "Kid Rock" Ritchie (b.
Robert James Ritchie, January 17, 1971) grew up in
Romeo, MI, a small rural town north of the Detroit metro
area. Finding small-town life stiflingly dull,
Ritchie immersed himself in rap music, learned to
breakdance, and began making the talent-show rounds in
Detroit. Inspired by
the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill -- white performers
fusing rap and hard guitar rock --
Kid Rock recorded his first demos in 1988, and
eventually scored an opening slot at a
Boogie Down Productions gig. That performance, in turn,
led to a contract with Jive Records, which issued
Kid Rock's debut album, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast,
in 1990. Produced by
Kid Rock,
Too Short, and
D-Nice, the album was heavily derivative of
Licensed to Ill.
Kid Rock briefly became notorious when a New York college
radio station aired the album's profanity-laced ode to oral
sex, "Yodelin' in the Valley," and was fined over $20,000 (a
judgment later rescinded). However, despite a tour with
Too $hort and
Ice Cube, Jive didn't see much of a future for
Kid Rock and dropped him from their roster.
Moving to Brooklyn,
Kid Rock hooked up with the small Continuum label, and moved
his brand of rap further into hard rock with The Polyfuze
Method, released in 1993. Reviews were mixed, with some
critics praising the record's humor and eclecticism while
others dismissed it as awkward and forced. The EP Fire It Up
followed in 1994, appearing on
Kid Rock's own Top Dog imprint (which was still distributed
by Continuum).
Kid Rock eventually returned to the Detroit area and began
work on another album; recorded on a shoestring budget,
Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp was released in 1996. Although
sometimes forced to sell bootleg dubs of his own records to
pay the rent,
Kid Rock set about forming a full-fledged backing band,
which he dubbed
Twisted Brown Trucker. While its membership fluctuated
early on, rapper
Joe C. (b.
Joseph Calleja) was one of the first to join; a longtime
fan and frequent concert attendee,
Calleja caught
Kid Rock's eye in 1994, partly because of his diminutive
stature (due to a digestive condition known as celiac
disease, which required both dialysis and extensive
medication) and partly because of his encyclopedic knowledge
of
Kid Rock's song lyrics. The rest of the lineup settled
around mostly Detroit-area musicians: guitarists
Kenny Olson and Jason Krause, keyboardist Jimmy Bones
(b. Jimmy Trombly, he handles the basslines himself),
drummer Stefanie Eulinberg, DJ/turntablist
Uncle Kracker (b.
Matt Shafer, who had been with
Kid Rock since the early '90s), and backing vocalists Misty
Love and Shirley Hayden.
As rap-metal acts like
Korn,
Limp Bizkit, and
Rage Against the Machine began to dominate the hard rock
landscape, Atlantic Records decided to take a chance on
signing
Kid Rock. Devil Without a Cause didn't do much upon its
initial release in August 1998, but a big promotional push
from the label and MTV helped make the album's second single
and video, "Bawitdaba," a nationwide smash. The follow-up,
"Cowboy," achieved similar success, and suddenly, after a
decade of trying,
Kid Rock was a superstar with a Top Five,
seven-times-platinum album and a gig at Woodstock '99. While
pondering how to follow up Devil,
Kid Rock acquired the rights to his indie-label recordings
and remixed or re-recorded the best material for The History
of Rock, which was released in the summer of 2000 and
featured some new songs as well. Sadly, after being forced
to take a break from touring a year earlier by his medical
difficulties,
Joe C. passed away in his sleep on November 16, 2000.
Even with a tragedy like this in his life,
Kid Rock continued work on his follow-up to Devil Without a
Cause. The media focused more on his relationship with
actress
Pamela Anderson than his musical career, which many
magazines were beginning to ridicule. His DJ,
Uncle Kracker, had a successful solo career during the
spring and summer of 2001, leaving
Kid Rock without one of his most frequent collaborators.
Still, by the winter of that year he had completed work on
Cocky and had released "Forever" to success on rock radio.
In fall 2003,
Kid Rock returned with a self-titled effort. A cover of
Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" marked the first
single. The cover art to his 2006 live album, Live Trucker,
paid tribute to
Bob Seger's Live Bullet. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Kid Rock for your next corporate or private event.
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