Devil Without a Cause

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."[7] Nevertheless, the album has been described as a notable nu metal release,[8] that helped "create the rap-rock/nu-metal phenomenon".[9][10] 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".[11] 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."[12] 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."[12] 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".[12] 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."[13]

The opening line to "Bawitdaba" paraphrased a line from Run-DMC's song "Hit It Run" from the group's 1986 studio album Raising Hell (group pictured). It is a play on the cadence of the line: "...cause I'm the King of Rock" to "My name is Kid Rock"

"Bawitdaba" has been described as having a nu metal sound.[14][15] 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".[13][16][17][18] 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."[19] In the demo recording of the song, Kid Rock shouts, "Now get in the pit and try to kill someone!"[19] 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.[19]

The country rap[4][13][20] song "Cowboy" was newly written for the album.[2] It is a fusion of hip hop, country music, Southern rock and heavy metal.[20] Billboard, as well as Kid Rock himself, described the song as a cross between Run DMC and Lynyrd Skynyrd.[16][21] The instrumentation includes Jew's harp, blues harmonica and a piano solo.[16] 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.[16][22]

"I Am the Bullgod", according to AXS, was a tribute to the band Monster Magnet.[20] azcentral described the song's style as Southern rock, with elements of funk,[16] while Billboard categorized the song as stoner rock.[13] The lyrics refer to drinking Jim Beam bourbon whiskey;[23] Kid Rock declares that "I am free and I feed on all that is forsaken"[22] 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.[22]

The song "Wasting Time" contains an interpolation of Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News".[5] "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".[24] "Where U At Rock?" references philosopher Ayn Rand.[24]

"Only God Knows Why" is a country ballad, noted for its prominent use of Auto-Tune.[10][13][16][25][26] 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.[2][6][27]

The album received critical acclaim upon release.[32] 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."[31]

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."[18] 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."[12]

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?"[29]

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.[33][34] 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".[2][4][35][36][37][38]

By April 1999, the album was certified gold, and the following month it was certified platinum, a certification the album received 11 times.[39] The album has since been certified diamond.[40] The album had sold 8.9 million copies per Nielsen SoundScan as of 2007.[41]

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.[35]

• Joe C. – co-vocals
• Misty Love – background vocals
• Jason Krause – guitar
• Kenny Olson – guitar
• Uncle Kracker – turntables, background vocals
• Jimmie Bones – keyboard, organ, piano, synth bass
• Stefanie Eulinberg – drums, percussion

• Bobby East – slide and rhythm guitar
• Matt O'Brien – bass guitar
• Shirley "P-Funk" Hayden – background vocals

• Al Sutton – engineering
• Derek Matuja – assistant engineer

• Andrew Nerha – guitar
• Mike Nerha – bass
• Bob Ebuling – drums
• DJ Swamp – turntables

• Eminem – on "Fuck Off"
• Robert Bradley – on "I Got One for Ya"
• Thornetta Davis – on "Wasting Time"

• Chris Peters – guitar on "I Am The Bullgod"