In this life, more often than not, a person's biggest enemy can be their own ego. When someone truly believes they can do no wrong, that's when they mess up and they get a bit of a reality check. By playing yourself out of position, you can realize your own faults and try to make up for the mistakes you've made. In the music industry, there are plenty of artists with huge egos, but in my perception, the biggest ego came from a white-trash rock/rap act known as Kid Rock.
In the early 2000s, Rock was recognized as one of the most arrogant motherfuckers in music; dude was so pompous, he made Jay-Z look like Kurt Cobain. But back then, he has a right to be so arrogant; after toiling around in obscurity for nine or ten years, he had finally made it to the big time when his fourth album, "Devil Without a Cause", became a mainstream success, eventually going 10 times platinum. After that, it was smooth sailing: going to big parties and hanging with movie stars. He even found himself a new girlfriend in Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson. But at the same time, he received a lot of criticism; coming out during the popularization of other bands like KoRn and Limp Bizkit, he became the whipping boy for mindless rap/rock, and was accused of riding off that nu-metal wave. Of course, Rock wasn't going to take the criticism lying down. The time had come for him to prove that he was everything that he said he was. He needed to come back and show the world that the success of DWAC wasn't a fluke. And most of all, he needed to distance himself from nu-metal rock/rap scene that he was wrongfully pigeonholed to. With the release of "Cocky" in November 2001, that's what he did, mixing the rock/rap material with southern rock and country. It came out of left field for a lot of his fans, including me, but it was a move that only Kid Rock could've pulled off. In hindsight though, he definitely didn't pull it off as well as he had thought.
Before anybody tries to take my words out of context, let me say this: "Cocky" is NOT a 'bad' album. By adding country to his repertoire, Kid Rock tried to distance himself from the nu-metal scene, but by doing so, he threw his core fans off. The reason this album suffers so much is because of the lack of a clear, concise direction. By crossing over so many styles, it shows how that he and his backing Twisted Brown Trucker band are a versatile act that can appeal to everyone's tastes. But the styles don't always mix together well, so the album comes off as horribly disjointed. In fact, the different genres often clash within a single tune. Take "Midnight Train to Memphis" for example. The song starts off as a southern-flavored ballad about Rock's girl leavin him because of his bad habits. It succeeds because it's musically solid and Rock's vocal delivery is strong enough to warrant a good song. But halfway through, there's a little interlude where actor David Spade complains about Rock "putting [him] to sleep" and from there, Rock does a 180 in attitude and musical style; he spits a profanity-laced rap, tearing down the image of a sorrowful man wanting his woman back by saying shit like "Doped up rebel with an attitude, shit / so fuck a bitch, fuck a bitch, fuck a bitch". After that little switch-up, the message just doesn't seem believable and the track as a whole is no longer interesting. Another example of the genres clashing is Drunk in the Morning". It starts out as a slow, almost bluesy country ballad, where Rock relays his problems with fame to us, feeling sorry for himself all the way. But then, after nearly two minutes, the track switches up without notice and becomes hard rock party track with monster riffs, as if someone changed the radio station mid-tune. The transition is so schizophrenic that the two halves sound totally unrelated, both musically and lyrically. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Rock just mashed up two unfinished songs together, either in an attempt to be 'different' or to save time. Had these two songs been given more work in the arrangement, perhaps they would've been something really special, but instead they are below average botches.
As for the rock/rap material, most of is fairly straightforward but does not hold up as well as it did in previous releases. I think there's no denying that Kid Rock is far from what you would call a 'lyrical genius', and can never be put on the same pedestal as some of Hip-Hop's greatest emcees. But that's not to say that Kid Rock is a horrible lyricist cause he's had some genuinely inspired lyrical moments over the years, especially on DWAC. But the problem is on his previous albums, his overly arrogant braggadocio had somewhat of a point. On records like DWAC, it sounded to me like he was saying these things in an attempt to prove something to the critics and everyone who had written him off in the past. But when he became rich and famous, he didn't have too much to prove, so here on "Cocky", it sounds like he's bragging just for the sake of bragging. And therein lies one of the album's biggest problems: more often than not, Kid Rock lets his ego get the best of him and lets himself believe he's better than really is. There are some instances where it succeeds though. "Trucker Anthem", the album's opening track. It starts out slow and brooding, and eventually it explodes into a headbangin' shredfest, with the TBT doing what they do best: rocking out. The entire point of the song is to mark the return of Rock and company, so there's not that much to really talk about in terms of lyrical greatness. All in all, it's a good song but falls short to the anthemic quality of Rock's classic, "Bawitdaba". And while "Forever" and "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me" are both overly arrogant brag fests, at least they're entertaining. The latter is especially fun to listen to: a slow, bluesy, AC/DC-styled tune that finds Rock recalling all that's happened to him since his rise to fame. He namedrops all his new famous friends, references (and then samples) the famous opening lick from "Freebird", and maintains that he's an original through and through. And even if the lyrics aren't exactly complex ("I might puff a little weed, might sniff a little yey / I'm so proud to be living in the USA!"), it makes for one of the album's better cuts.
Unfortunately, Rock's lyricism doesn't really hold up for the rest of these kinds of tracks. Take the title track, "Cocky", where Kid Rock bores us to death with his arrogant rhymes about how great he is. How ironic that for a track like this, some of the lyrics are straight up laughable: "Say what, say how, say who / fuck what, fuck me, fuck you" and Baby I'm sick of getting ripped off / I'm so pissed, bout to be pissed off". "I'm a Dog" is another uninspired rock/rap brag track that sounds like a reject track from DWAC, both musically and lyrically. "Lay it on Me" starts out decent enough, as a southern-flavored rap where Rock describes himself as a pimp and talks about the women he gets -- not necessarily new territory for Rock, but it's still listenable. But about halfway through, Rock lets his oversized ego gets in the way; he goes off the topic of women and once again starts bragging about himself and how you'll "never find another who could fill [his] shoes", all the while throwing verbal shots at Pam's ex husband, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee ("You replaced your wife with some two-bit missy / now she's gettin' fucked up in Detroit City!") and alt rock band Radiohead ("I got rich off of keepin' it real / while you Radioheads are reinventing the wheel"). While these disses would be expected from the overly arrogant Kid, they just seem so out of place in a track like this, as if he threw them in just in case we forgot how arrogant he really is. But perhaps the biggest load of arrogant trash-talkin' crap is "World Class Sex Rhymes", which is often abbreviated to "WCSR". On this 'bonus track', we find Kid Rock teaming up with West Coast superstar Snoop Dogg, as they trade verses about -- you guessed it -- groupies. What makes this track different from "Lay it on Me" is that this track has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The beats is horrid (especially the second one, when Snoop asks for Rock to hit him with "some gangsta shit") and lyrically, both artists truly disappoint. This has to be one of the worst lyrical performances Snoop has ever given -- and that's saying something. Take a look at these excerpts from both of them:
"Oh shit, some gangsta shit / all I need is a gangsta bitch / cause gangsta shit is all I kick / I fucks with a black, brown, or a white chick" -- Snoop Dogg
"Well I'm Kid Rock, got pussy galore / you might get a lotta pussy, I gets much more / got scores of whores and macks know what's up / (Youse a playa!) Nope, I'm a flat-out slut!" -- Kid Rock
In the hook of the title track, Rock maintains "It ain't braggin' motherfucker if you back it up!". Perhaps he should take his own advice, and back up his attitude with better lyrics, and maybe then people will start taking him seriously.
But that's not to say the album is completely wasted on brag rap. In fact, there are some portions of this record that warrant five stars. Ironically enough a lot of that greater material is of the southern rock genre. Of course, everybody recognizes Picture", the straight-up country ballad that single-handedly saved the record (when it was released as a single, it gave him the majority of the sales that "Cocky" received) and made Kid Rock a 'country superstar'. On this track, Rock teams up with Sheryl Crow to give us a good old-fashioned cheatin' song. It's definitely not an original subject, but for this track that doesn't even matter. While Rock and Crow sound like an unlikely pairing on paper, together they make a pretty damn good song, with Rock especially shining in the vocal department. Even better than that is the head-nodding "What I Learned out on the Road". Co-written with Kracker, the song celebrates the wild life on the road, but still manages to recognize the importance of a real relationship. Musically it'll appeal to southern rock fans, especially with its Skynyrd-style chorus, but the steady beat, the DJ scratching, and the breakdown just before the chorus will make it easy for Hip-Hop fans to enjoy as well. It's easy listening, but at the same time it's got an edge to it, and it makes out for an enjoyable song. But without a doubt, the best song on the album is the slow ballad, "Lonely Road of Faith". Many fans have likened it to Rock's other major ballad, "Only God Knows Why", though Rock has claimed on one occasion that he had written it back in 1996, before OGKW, but never had the motivation to record it until 9/11 happened. Anyway, "Lonely Road of Faith" is a heartwarming love song, that has an almost gospel feel to it. It's one time where you are especially glad that Rock doesn't let his ego get in the way. Like "What I Learned...", this song has a hard-rocking rap middle section; a lot of people criticized it, but I think it works well, especially building to the song's climactic ending. Overall, "Lonely Road of Faith" shows that above all else, Kid Rock can be a great singer and songwriter when he really wants to be.
Love him or hate him, you can't say that Kid Rock isn't talented. He's come a long way since his debut in 1990, but since that time, he's also changed so much. "Cocky" pretty much reflects that musical change. After the release of this album, many longtime fans believed that he had gone soft and lost his edge. I don't necessarily agree with that -- I believe he just tried to show that there was more to him than rock/rap. But even though I definitely commend him for increasing his versatility, the album as a whole is just one big musical mess. It was like he hit puberty, not knowing whether to be the rock/rap 'American Bad Ass' or a wannabe Toby Keith country star. The identity crisis would continue with his next record, 2003's "Kid Rock", but by then he knew what direction he wanted to go in: he chose country over rap, and alienated his fanbase even more. But even so, it would prove to be a stronger release than his previous record. Overall, "Cocky" is a considerably average record, with an almost even balance of good and bad material. But even if there are some excellent tracks like "Lonely Road of Faith", "What I Learned Out on the Road", and "You Never Met a Motherfucker Like Me", there are some truly cringe-worthy moments that keep me from recommending it, even to the hardcore Kid Rock fans. If you're looking for a worthy follow up to the classic "Devil Without a Cause", sad to say you're gonna be disappointed.
FINAL RATING: 3 Stars
Track listing:
1. Trucker Anthem feat. Uncle Kracker (4 Stars)
2. Forever (5 Stars)
3. Lay It On Me (3 Stars)
4. Cocky (1 1/2 Stars)
5. What I Learned out on the Road (5 Stars)
6. I'm Wrong but You Ain't Right (1 Star)
7. Lonely Road of Faith (5 Stars)
8. You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me (5 Stars)
9. Picture feat. Sheryl Crow (4 Stars)
10. I'm a Dog (2 Stars)
11. Midnight Train to Memphis (2 Stars)
12. Baby Come Home (3 1/2 Stars)
13. Drunk in the Morning (2 1/2 Stars)
14. World Class Sex Rhymes feat. Snoop Dogg (0 Stars)
My name is Kid...! Kid Rock is back loud and proud with Cocky. He does what he does best, mixing many musical styles to create his own unique brand of...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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