Devil Without a Cause | ||||
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Released | August 18, 1998 | |||
Recorded | September 1997 – July 1998 | |||
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Length | 71:12 | |||
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Kid Rock chronology | ||||
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Singles from Devil Without a Cause | ||||
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Devil Without a Cause is the fourth studio album by American musician Kid Rock. Released on August 18, 1998, the album saw Kid Rock continuing to develop his sound, and marked the finalization of his stage persona as a 'redneck pimp'. Additionally, the song "Cowboy" is seen as being instrumental in the development of the fusion genre country rap.
Devil Without a Cause was a major commercial success. Spurred by the popularity of the single "Bawitdaba", the album sold over 14 million copies, and was certified diamond. The album also received critical acclaim for its genre-mixing sound.
In 1997, Jason Flom, head of Lava Records, attended one of Kid Rock's performances, and met with Kid Rock, who later gave him a demo containing the songs "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "I Got One for Ya", which led to Kid Rock signing with Atlantic Records. [3] [4] As part of his recording deal, Kid Rock received $150,000 from the label. [5] By this time, Kid Rock had fully developed his pimp redneck stage persona and rap rock musical style and wanted to make a "redneck, shit-kicking rock 'n' roll rap" album. [3]
The album was recorded at the White Room in Detroit and mixed at the Mix Room in Los Angeles. [3] Kid Rock spent two months in the studio with "a hot tub, some girls and some illegal substances". [6] In addition to the newly written songs, the band also re-recorded some of Kid Rock's older songs, including "I Am the Bullgod" from the album The Polyfuze Method , [6] and "Black Chick, White Guy" from the album Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp . [3] [7]
During the recording sessions, Eminem was mixing The Slim Shady LP at the same studio, and, being friends with Kid Rock, asked him to record scratching for the song "Just Don't Give A Fuck." In return, Eminem delivered a guest rap verse on Kid's song "Fuck Off." In a 1999 interview with Spin Magazine, Eminem told the interviewer that he used cocaine for the first and last time ever while writing and recording his verse with Kid. According to Eminem, Kid was in "full party mode with tons of different drugs just laid out near the studio mixing board. There were Playboy playmates just passed out naked with coke on their nose. It was overwhelming. I never touched that shit again." [3]
The A.V. Club wrote that while Devil Without a Cause is "not nü-metal, [it] extended the lineage of rap-rock that Run-DMC and Aerosmith had first established." [8] Nevertheless, the album has been described as a notable nu metal release, [9] that helped "create the rap-rock/nu-metal phenomenon". [10] [11] AllMusic said that the album best demonstrated the "organic, integrated sound" of rap rock that differed sharply from that of rap metal, which in contrast sounded "as if the riffs were merely overdubbed over scratching and beat box beats", whereas rap rock, as Devil Without a Cause demonstrated, was defined as "rock song[s] where the vocalist rapped instead of sang". [12] According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "The key to [the album's] success is that it's never trying to be a hip-hop record. It's simply a monster rock album." [13] Erlewine credits Kid Rock's backing band, Twisted Brown Trucker, for crafting a sound defined by "thunderous, funky noise -- and that's funky not just in the classic sense, but also in a Southern-fried, white trash sense, as he gives this as much foundation in country as he does hip-hop." [13] Erlewine believes the album's sound owed influence to Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Van Halen." Erlewine also believed the album was "firmly in the tradition of classic hard rock". [13] Billboard wrote, "it’s not a stretch to call Devil Without a Cause, Rock’s breakthrough fourth record, the Appetite for Destruction or The Chronic of rap-rock." [14]
"Bawitdaba" has been described as having a nu metal sound. [15] [16] To create the chorus, Kid Rock combined the choruses of Busy Bee's "Making Cash Money", the Marcels' recording of "Blue Moon" and the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" into a "neo-gregorian drone". [14] [17] [18] [19] The lyrics of the song are dedicated to "chicks with beepers" and the I.R.S., as well as "all the crackheads, the critics, the cynics / And all my heroes in the methadone clinic." [20] In the demo recording of the song, Kid Rock shouts, "Now get in the pit and try to kill someone!" [20] On the album version, Kid Rock changed the lyrics, replacing the word "kill" with "love". Regarding the change, Kid Rock told the Baltimore Sun that he was glad he changed the lyrics, explaining that mosh pits are about coexistence. [20]
The country rap [5] [14] [21] song "Cowboy" was newly written for the album. [3] It is a fusion of hip hop, country music, Southern rock and heavy metal. [21] Billboard , as well as Kid Rock himself, described the song as a cross between Run DMC and Lynyrd Skynyrd. [17] [22] The instrumentation includes Jew's harp, blues harmonica and a piano solo. [17] The lyrics feature Kid Rock rapping about moving to California to become a pimp, and start an escort service "for all the right reasons", located at the top of the Four Seasons hotel, as well as getting thrown out of bars and buying a yacht. [17] [23]
"I Am the Bullgod", according to AXS, was a tribute to the band Monster Magnet. [21] azcentral described the song's style as Southern rock, with elements of funk, [17] while Billboard categorized the song as stoner rock. [14] The lyrics refer to drinking Jim Beam bourbon whiskey; [24] Kid Rock declares that "I am free and I feed on all that is forsaken" [23] and that "I never was cool with James Dean", a reference to the actor who starred in the film that inspired this album's title, Rebel Without a Cause . [23]
The song "Wasting Time" contains an interpolation of Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News". [6] "Welcome 2 the Party (Ode 2 the Old School)" refers to Orson Welles' Paul Masson adverts with the lyric "I will serve no rhymes before their time". [25] "Where U At Rock?" references philosopher Ayn Rand. [25]
"Only God Knows Why" is a country ballad, noted for its prominent use of Auto-Tune. [11] [14] [17] [26] [27] The lyrics of "Black Chick, White Guy" deal with Kid Rock's ten-year off-and-on relationship with a classmate named Kelley South Russell, with whom he fathered one child and raised another child from a previous relationship, but broke up with her after finding out that a third child he was raising wasn't his, after which he gained custody of his son, Robert James Ritchie Jr.; these events became the inspiration for this song, which discusses them directly, although Russell denies some of the allegations made against her in the lyrics. [3] [7] [28]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [29] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 1.3/10 [31] |
Rock Hard | 8/10 [32] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Village Voice | A− [34] |
Wall of Sound | 84/100 [35] |
The album received critical acclaim upon release. Robert Christgau gave the album an A−, writing, "Belatedly fulfilling the rap-metal promise of Licensed to Ill , [Kid Rock] makes the competition sound clownish, limp, and corny, respectively, and the Eminem cameo is a draw [...] [Kid Rock] is, and I quote, all of that and a bag of chips." [34]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album four out of five stars, its byline hailing it as "a trailer trash triumph of metal guitars, hip-hop beats, and I'm-an-American-band egomania." [19] Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four and a half out of five stars, writing, "[Kid Rock] came up with the great hard rock album of the late '90s -- a fearlessly funny, bone-crunching record that manages to sustain its strength, not just until the end of its long running time, but through repeated plays." [13]
In a negative review, Pitchfork gave the album 1.3 out of 10, writing, "The hook is that Devil Without A Cause combines rap with metal, but this combination's already been done a million times, and in each case, the result was better than this. Do you really need predictable pimping rhymes over wack-ass metal beats with third-tier, grunge-derived choruses among your records? I ask you: is this what you're missing from your life?" [31]
Starting in 1998, Kid Rock disembarked on his Devil Without a Cause Tour. In the spring of 1999, Kid Rock joined Limp Bizkit and Staind on the Limptropolis tour. [36] [37] Through extensive promoting, including appearances on HBO, MTV (including a performance alongside Aerosmith and Run-DMC) and performing at Woodstock 1999, Devil Without a Cause sold over 14 million copies, the album's success spurred by Kid Rock's breakthrough hit single "Bawitdaba". [3] [5] [38] [39] [40] [41]
By April 1999, the album was certified gold, and the following month it was certified platinum, a certification the album received 11 times. [42] The album has since been certified diamond. [43] The album had sold 8.9 million copies per Nielsen SoundScan as of 2007. [44]
In 2000, Kid Rock was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, despite having been active in the music industry for over 10 years. [38]
The album continued to be popular long after its release, and in 2012, Kid Rock said that he wanted to re-record the album in its entirety, partly to celebrate the album's 15th anniversary, and partly because he would own the master recordings. [45] [46] [47]
The album's critical appraisal has continued long after the album's release, with Allmusic labeling Devil Without a Cause a "rap-rock masterpiece". [12] The song "Cowboy" is considered by AXS to be the first in the country rap genre; Cowboys & Indians claims that Kid Rock's song had a major impact on the country music scene and that artists Jason Aldean and Big & Rich, among others, were influenced by the song. [5] [21]
15 years after the album's release, The Village Voice writer Chaz Kangas praised Kid Rock's artistry, writing, "in the Clinton era when your most viable pop stars were pristine teen-pop sensations, raucous nu-metal antagonists or alternative-to-alternative-to-alternative rock weirdos, Rock stood alone." [48] Praising the song "Cowboy", Kangas called it "one track from this era that's timeless without even trying to be." [48]
Loudwire named Devil Without a Cause one of the 10 best hard rock albums of 1998. [49] Classic Rock magazine named Devil Without a Cause one of 10 essential rap metal albums. [50] Blender named Devil Without a Cause one of the 100 greatest American albums. [51] The album was also listed as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [52]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Bawitdaba" |
| 4:27 |
2. | "Cowboy" |
| 4:17 |
3. | "Devil Without a Cause" (featuring Joe C.) |
| 5:32 |
4. | "I Am the Bullgod" | Rock | 4:50 |
5. | "Roving Gangster (Rollin')" |
| 4:24 |
6. | "Wasting Time" |
| 4:02 |
7. | "Welcome 2 the Party (Ode 2 the Old School)" |
| 5:14 |
8. | "I Got One for Ya'" (featuring Robert Bradley) |
| 3:43 |
9. | "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" |
| 3:09 |
10. | "Fist of Rage" |
| 3:23 |
11. | "Only God Knows Why" |
| 5:27 |
12. | "Fuck Off" (featuring Eminem, does not appear on clean version) |
| 6:13 |
13. | "Where U at Rock" | Rock | 4:24 |
14. | "Black Chick, White Guy
| Rock | 12:01 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Welcome 2 the Party/I Am the Bullgod" (Live) | 5:22 |
16. | "Bawitdaba" (Live) | 3:26 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [65] | 4× Platinum | 400,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [66] | Gold | 7,500^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [67] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [68] | 11× Platinum | 11,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Robert James Ritchie, known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Detroit hip hop scene, he broke through into mainstream success with a rap rock sound before shifting his performance style to country rock. A self-taught musician, he has said he can play every instrument in his backing band and has overseen production on all but two of his albums.
Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu metal rarely features guitar solos or other displays of musical technique, and emphasizes rhythm with instrumentation that is heavily syncopated. Nu metal guitarists typically use seven-string guitars that are down-tuned to produce a heavier sound. Vocal styles are often rhythmic and influenced by hip hop, and include singing, rapping, screaming and sometimes growling. DJs are occasionally featured to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic background music. Nu metal is one of the key genres of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
The Slim Shady LP is the second studio album by the American rapper Eminem. It was released on February 23, 1999, through Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Recorded in Ferndale, Michigan following Eminem's recruitment by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the album features production from Dr. Dre, the Bass Brothers, and Eminem himself.
Rap metal is a fusion genre that combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables.
Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther.
The Polyfuze Method is the second studio album by American musician Kid Rock. Released in 1993 by Continuum and Top Dog Records, the album marked the beginning of Kid Rock's shift from hip hop music to rap rock. The Polyfuze Method saw Kid Rock further develop his "trailer-park pimp-daddy persona".
Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp is the third studio album by American rapper Kid Rock and the first to feature his backing band Twisted Brown Trucker. Released on January 9, 1996, by Top Dog Records, the album saw Kid Rock showcasing a more eclectic sound than his previous albums, encompassing funk, hip hop, soul and rock. It was considered the most rock-oriented album he had made at the time and the first to explore his Southern rock influences.
Cocky is the fifth studio album by American musician Kid Rock. Released in 2001, it is his third release for Atlantic Records.
Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is considered to be rock music in which lyrics are rapped, rather than sung. The genre achieved its greatest success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The History of Rock is a compilation album by American rapper Kid Rock. Released in 2000, the album consists of re-recorded versions of songs from the album The Polyfuze Method, remixed versions of songs from the album Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp, demos and unreleased songs, including the single "American Bad Ass".
"Got the Life" is a song by American nu metal band Korn. It was released in 1998, as the second single from their third album, Follow the Leader (1998). The song was recorded in April 1998 at NRG Recording Studios. The band decided they would release the song as a promotional single after each member found that there was something "special" about the song. The single had "phenomenal success", and its music video was requested more than any other video on MTV's TRL, making it the first officially "retired" music video.
Twisted Brown Trucker is the backing band for American musician Kid Rock. Formed in 1994, the band has contributed to nine of his twelve studio albums, as well as Uncle Kracker's Double Wide album.
American rock musician Kid Rock has released 12 studio albums, one compilation album, two extended plays and one live album. His debut album, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast, was released by Jive Records in 1990. Following its release, Kid Rock was dropped and shuffled between an independent artist and label-signed for most of the 1990s until he created his own Top Dog label and released his mainstream debut album, Devil Without a Cause, on August 18, 1998, via Atlantic Records. The album was certified diamond by the RIAA and sold 11 million copies in the United States. From 1999 to 2000 he produced four major Billboard "Hot 100" hits: "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy", "Only God Knows Why", and "American Bad Ass".
"Bawitdaba" is a song by American singer Kid Rock from his fourth studio album, Devil Without a Cause (1998). Serviced to US rock radio in February 1999, "Bawitdaba" helped push the success of the album. It has since become one of Kid Rock's most popular songs, receiving critical praise and entering the top 10 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, as well as on the New Zealand Singles Chart.
"Cowboy" is a song by Kid Rock from his album Devil Without a Cause. The song, noted for its country rap style, reflects a cross-section of Kid Rock's country, Southern rock and hip hop influences, having been described by the artist as a cross between Run DMC and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
"I Am the Bullgod" is a song by Kid Rock, first released in 1993 on the vinyl release of The Polyfuze Method, and later appearing on his 1998 breakout album Devil Without a Cause.
"Long Hard Road Out of Hell" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson and British trip hop band Sneaker Pimps. It was released as a single from the soundtrack to the 1997 motion picture Spawn. An arena rock and gothic rock song, "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" was written by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez and produced by Manson and Sean Beavan. Its lyrics are about self-loathing and its title is derived from John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). After the track was written, the Sneaker Pimps' Kelli Ali was recruited to perform background vocals on it, as the Spawn soundtrack featured collaborations between hard rock artists and electronic music artists. The Sneaker Pimps were dissatisfied with the final track and wanted a remix of it to be released as a single instead; conversely, Manson deemed it a personal favorite.
"Picture" is a duet written by American music artists Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, released on November 12, 2002, as the fourth single and ninth track from Kid Rock's 2001 album Cocky. The original recording on the album is performed by the song's writers. Rock re-recorded the song for radio with alternative country singer Allison Moorer because Atlantic was initially unable to get the rights from Crow's label to release the album version as a single. When the Moorer version was released, some radio stations began playing the Crow version instead, leading Billboard to credit the song variously to Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer. The song was a commercial and critical success and was nominated for Vocal Event of The Year at the 2003 Country Music Association awards.
Fire It Up is an EP released by American rapper Kid Rock in 1993. The vinyl edition served as a single for his song "I Am the Bullgod", consisting of that song and "My Oedipus Complex" as a B-side, while the cassette and compact disc editions were extended plays with other songs.
Kid Rock, who helped create the rap-rock/nu-metal phenomenon with Devil Without A Cause (1998), wilfully fled to the ghetto from Detroit's furthest, quaintest, very white village, Romeo.
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