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Bad Reputation
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Date Aired
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October 1, 2024
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Running Time
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38:36
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Previous review
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Next review
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Website
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Intro[]
Todd: So, Kid Rock is obviously one of the most important artists alive.
Clip of Kid Rock - "Bawitdaba"
Kid Rock: My name is Kiiiiiiiiiiid
Todd mimes the drum fill
Clip of Kid Rock MTV performance
Kid Rock: Kid Rock!
Todd (VO): My deep dark secret is that I never really had a problem with Kid Rock for most of his career. [clip of Kid Rock's...] I still like "Bawitdaba" and "Cowboy" as much as I did when I was a kid, [...and...] I find "All Summer Long" mostly unobjectionable, him rhyming "things" with "things" doesn't really bother me.
Kid Rock: And we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things
Todd: Eh. [shrugs]
Clip of Kid Rock - "Cowboy"
Todd (VO): And while his music was dumb as hell and I didn't go out of my way to listen to him, I did kinda see someone I related to under all the bluster and pimp outfits; a giant rock-n-roll nerd who liked all the same music I liked.
Clip of Kid Rock - "American Bad Ass"
Kid Rock: I like AC/DC and ZZ Top
Bocephus, Beasties, and the Kings of Rock
And this has been almost entirely forgotten, but for the most part, he was also completely uncontroversial. [clips of Limp Bizkit - "Break Stuff"...] Compared to his [...and Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady"] much angrier compatriots. [back to "American Bad Ass"] The only things he got shit for was the occasional gross comment about women, and a fondness for the Confederate flag. Both of which he more or less got away with for a long time.
Clip of Kid Rock performing "Sugar"
Kid Rock: I like stars and bars, but I ain't no Nazi
Clip of Kid Rock in the studio
Todd (VO): Otherwise, Kid Rock was a firmly mainstream character, [clips of...] and every time you needed someone to pay tribute to a legend, he was your guy.
Clip of Kid Rock - "Feel Like Making Love"
Kid Rock: I feel like making love
In a better world, Kid Rock is the keeper of the flame of classic rock. And at worst, [clip of Lenny Kravitz live performance] would be a guy who shows up with the other traditionalists at the Grammys every now and then.
Todd: And as I write this...
Clip of Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen - "I Had Some Help"
Todd (VO): ...with country music going through another boom period, it is not hard for me to imagine Kid Rock as a beloved elder statesman of music. [clips of Hardy - "Truck Bed"...] Cause if you actually listen to the things that, you know, white people listen to, [...and Machine Gun Kelly & Jelly Roll - "Lonely Road"] you will hear Kid Rock's blend of nu metal, classic rock, and old-school hip hop all over it.
Clip of Dustin Lynch ft. Jelly Roll - "Chevrolet"
Dustin Lynch: Give me the dirt road, the windows down
I'm not saying that's good or bad, but it is what it is. [text appears: *it's mostly bad; clip of Kid Rock - "Born Free"] So me saying he's one of the most important artists alive, that's- that's probably me overselling it. But he is surprisingly influential, or at least very ahead of his time. This should be a time for a victory lap for Kid Rock.
Todd: But that is, of course, not the world we live in.
Clip of Kid Rock - "Warrior"
Kid Rock: So don't tell me who's wrong and right
But liberty starts slipping away
Todd (VO): In the 2010s, Kid Rock became [clip of Fuse video about...] more and more openly conservative and involved in Republican politics. This is another thing he mostly got away with. [clip of Kid Rock performing at a Mitt Romney rally] Like, I'm not trying to be out here, like, "Oh, Republicans used to be so decent." But there is a difference between supporting Mitt Romney in 2012...
Todd: ...versus what would come after.
Clip of Kid Rock Instagram video
Kid Rock: You fuck with Trump, you fuck with me!
Clip of Donald Trump with...
Todd (VO): Kid Rock was one of the first to jump on the Donald Trump bandwagon in 2016, and has been one of his biggest boosters to this day.
Todd: And this became a bridge too far.
Clip of Kid Rock at a Trump press conference
Todd (VO): This became his entire identity, and it's basically made him a pariah among polite company. [clip of a Kid Rock live performance] No more invites to industry events, no more connections to the wider world of music except with the hardcore MAGA hat crowd. [clip of Kid Rock acoustic performance] Still, for the most part, his actual music had not really reflected his newfound political life. [clip of Kid Rock ft. Monster Truck - "Don't Tell Me How to Live"] Not until, oh, about a year after his buddy Trump left office, when it finally caught up to his music too.
Kid Rock: Fuck all you hoes!
Todd: Here we go. [image of a "Bawitdaba" shirt edited to say...] Bawit-MAGA. Is that a thing?
Kid Rock: So what the fuck's up with all the backlash?
You snowflakes, here's a newsflash
Monster Truck: Ain't nobody gonna tell me how to live
Todd: [sighs]
Kid Rock: Every opinion has a millennial offended
Todd (VO): And there you have it, Kid Rock finally reaches his final form. And with his 2022 album Bad Reputation, he let it be known that he's had it with you woke snowflakes, with your participation trophies and your social media or whatever. Like, I don't know how much chance there was for a Kid Rock comeback before this, but this was the final nail in the coffin. This video spread like wildfire over the internet, and once and for all, Kid Rock became not just a disagreeable loudmouth, but a complete laughing stock.
Monster Truck: Soar like an eagle
Kid Rock rides a giant middle finger rocket
Oh my god.
Todd: The devil without a cause finds his cause, and causes a lot of unintentional laughter. This is Trainwreckords.
Trainwreckords intro, followed by the album cover for Bad Reputation
What Changed?[]
Clip from Americans short film
Kid Rock: Hope and change, huh? Four years later, working folks are hoping to just have a little change leftover.
Sean Penn: Was it Goebbels who said "Tell a lie a thousand times, it becomes the truth"?
Kid Rock: Fuckin' suck it, commie.
Todd: The fuck is this?
New Anchor: We have some breaking news, 26 marines were killed today in vicious fighting outside Jalalabad. This marks the tragic milestone of two thousand soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Kid Rock: Hey man, hey man. To freedom.
Todd shrugs in confusion
Sean Penn: To freedom.
Todd (VO): What the fuck am I watching!? This is...
Todd: This is a short film...
Todd (VO): ...Kid Rock made with Sean Penn in 2012, called Americans. About how we all need to come together as Americans. Look, he's pro-gay marriage. He's "no homo"-ing his way through it a little, but... You know, that's a pretty far cry from ten years later [clip of...] when he was shooting at Bud Light because a trans person held up a can once. [clip of Kid Rock performing with...] How did a guy who has performed with Chuck D wind up attached...
Todd: ...to Donald Trump? [screenshot of headline "Kid Rock Said Trump Asked Him - Yes, Him - for Advice on North Korea"] A guy who even Kid Rock seems to know he's smarter than.
Clip of Fox News interview with Kid Rock
Kid Rock: "What do you think we should do about North Korea?" I'm like, [sputters] what!?
Todd (VO): Something I've always kinda wondered about. Especially since, despite being all in on the former president – Future president? Hope not, vote kids – Despite that, he seemed pretty reserved about endorsing any of the things Trump actually says.
Todd: What is this guy's deal?
The Rise and Fall of an Upper Midwest Badass[]
Screenshot of Rolling Stone article "How Kid Rock Went From America's Favorite Hard-Partying Rockstar to a MAGA Mouthpiece"
Todd (VO): Well, a couple months ago, there was a very interesting interview in Rolling Stone trying to figure that out exactly. And in one revealing moment, [screenshot of the quote] Kid Rock himself admits that he hates when people go on and on about politics, and then he'll remember that he is in fact [clip of Fox News interview with...] Kid Rock, and get embarrassed.
Todd: Ugh. Well, we got common ground already, Kid. I also hate that I talk about politics all the time now. [image of a man exhausted in front of a laptop] And I'm sure that many of you hate that about me too. I mean- I'm supposed to talk about the music, man, why do you have to shoe-horn politics into it. [image of Trainwreckords logo] This is supposed to be about career-ending albums, right?
Clip of Kid Rock live performance
Todd (VO): Kid Rock's career was over long before then, I haven't heard anything from him since the Bush administration.
Todd: Okay well, funny thing about that.
Clip of Kid Rock live performance
Todd (VO): One thing you have to keep in mind, or one thing I have to keep in mind because I'm not good about this, but careers don't end just because you stopped noticing them. Maybe Kid Rock hasn't had, like, a hit song on the radio in a while, but his albums did still sell comparatively. [screenshot of Kid Rock's discography on Wikipedia] You can look at what his albums were doing in the 2010s, top 10 debuts for all of them. [album cover for First Kiss] This album that you've never heard of debuted at number 2!
Clip of Kid Rock - "First Kiss"
Kid Rock: It reminds me of my first kiss
Maybe album sales don't mean as much as they used to, and it sure didn't have any legs. But still, number 2. This man still had a decently loyal fanbase.
Todd: And then we get to 2022. [screenshot of Bad Reputation on the discography page, with its peak covered] How well did that do? [peak of 12 is revealed] Yeah, 12. For comparison, [album cover for...] Paula by Robin Thicke, which is a historic flop, [screenshot of article about...] still hit number 9. [image of a car-side record shop] You can sell records out the trunk of your car and still hit the top 10 these days. Granted we are pretty deep into his career, so if you're grading on an old person curve, you could say [back to the Bad Reputation entry] 12 is still pretty good, but still, you gotta compare it to his- Oh actually, hold on a second, I think I fucked up that screen- [typing noises] Wait, sorry, Adobe Premier is complicated. [the peak is corrected to 124] There we go- A hundred and twenty four!? Yeah, 124. And to be clear, it didn't debut at 124. [screenshot of Billboard article "Kid Rock's 'Bad Reputation' no-shows on Billboard 200 chart"] It debuted at nothing and crawled its way up to 124.
Todd (VO): That can't be real, but it is. How do you debut at number 2 with a record I've never heard of, [clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"] and then less than seven years later, drop 122 spots!?
Todd: Cause I definitely heard at least one song from this.
Snowflakes, Here's a Newsflash[]
Kid Rock: Fuck all you hoes!
Todd: I love how bad it sounds immediately.
Todd (VO): Cheapest preset on the keyboard, might as well just do mouth kazoo.
Todd: [hums the synth melody]
Kid Rock: Detroit 'til I die, motherfucker!
Todd (VO): So, in late 2021, Kid Rock attracted attention for his music for the first time in years with his... [screenshot of Consequence headline "Kid Rock's New Song 'Don't Tell Me How to Live' is Worse Than Diarrhea"] viral(?) smash(?), "Don't Tell Me How to Live". And he's got thoughts about you whiny millennials.
Kid Rock: Kiss my ass, then you can suck a dick
Sideways, my way or the high way, listen up
Todd: Damn, what's up with these kids and their participation trophies?
Kid Rock: Years ago, we thought it was a joke, see
That every kid got a motherfuckin' trophy
Todd (VO): And all these new-fangled cellular phones.
Todd: This is a collaboration with the band Monster Truck.
Monster Truck: Ain't nobody gonna tell me how to live
Todd (VO): Uh, I've never heard of them, but they sound like a '90s Adam Sandler character. [clip from The Wedding Singer; Todd mimics Monster Truck] Ain't nobody gonna tell me how to live. Whalooo! [back to "Don't Tell Me How to Live"] And of course, he drapes the American flag over everything. I wonder how Monster Truck feels about that, [screenshot of Monster Truck's Wikipedia intro] since they're Canadian. [image of Kid Rock in front of a Confederate flag] I mean, if Kid Rock can be a Confederate flag waver from Michigan, they can fly the stars and stripes, I guess. Now obviously, cards on the table here, I think that this being a MAGA anthem at all...
Todd: ...is hilarious on its own.
Kid Rock: A nation of pussies is our next generation
Todd (VO): Spewing MAGA shit is like walking around with your pants on backwards as far as I'm concerned. Like, please learn to be embarrassed about yourself, man. Cause if you won't, [image explaining second hand embarrassment] I'll happily do it for you.
Kid Rock: Can all get the bottom of my motherfuckin' shoe
This video feels like it was created for internet comedians like myself to score easy points off of, and...
Todd: I'm certainly not above that.
Kid Rock: This amendment one, it rings true
And if you don't dissent, bitch, then see number two
Todd (VO): Oh, I'm seeing a lot of number 2, alright.
Todd: But I'm sure Kid Rock would say that he's trying to piss me off, so obviously he succeeded.
Todd (VO): That's why I brought up the album sales first, because I wanna be clear.
Todd: This did not succeed.
Kid Rock: Get a clue, a crew, your fake news and views
Todd (VO): Like, I guess he expected his audience to eat this shit up and clap like seals cause he says all the magic words, like "participation trophies" and "fake news". [album cover for Bad Reputation] In fact, the album has [zooms in on...] a Snowflake Advisory warning on it.
Todd: Only by a miracle is this album not called Trigger Warning. [screenshot of "Don't Tell Me How to Live" on YouTube with 15 million views] Now, if you look at the number of views, this is actually pretty good. But you can tell who's watching this by [screenshot of...] looking at the YouTube comments, all of which are dunking on it. Like, speaking as someone who knows, the YouTube comment algorithm [image of Todd's top comments on the American Dream video...] exists to protect my feelings. [...and some weirder comments] If I glance through my videos and see even a single negative comment, I have deeply fucked up.
Todd (VO): So this was a viral hit in the same way as [image of...] Star Wars kid.
Todd: Only, you don't have to feel bad for laughing at him.
Even Rockstars Have Limits[]
Todd (VO): But I think the bigger point is that Kid Rock's politics are bizarre because Kid Rock shouldn't have any political beliefs in any direction.
Todd: Kid Rock isn't deep enough to have any politics.
Clip of "Bawitdaba"
Todd (VO): Kid Rock is supposed to be about the good times, [clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"] and this song radiates bitterness and misery.
Kid Rock: You're like Mayberry, bitch, I'm hard and crisp
Kid Rock is hard and crisp, like [image of...] fresh apples-
Todd: What are we talking about?
Kid Rock: I'm like Reverend Run or David Lee Roth
Like Springsteen, bitch, I'm the motherfuckin' boss
Todd (VO): Disregarding the fact that Kid Rock thinks he's Springsteen, which.. Pft! Buddy, no. But...
Todd: Like, even when I liked Kid Rock, I didn't like how much Kid Rock liked Kid Rock.
Clips of "Cowboy"...
Todd (VO): All his "I'm an American badass", it worked for one album, [...Kid Rock - "Welcome 2 The Party"...] where he was still kinda loose and funny. [...and Kid Rock - "Forever"] And after that, he was always trying too hard to recapture it.
Todd: Like, all three of these artists he mentions
Montage clips of Run-DMC - "It's Tricky"; Van Halen live performance; Bruce Springsteen live performance
Todd (VO): Run-DMC, David Lee Roth, Springsteen, all of them seemed like they were having a good time. [back to the Van Halen performance] Like, I'm sure David Lee Roth is a bitter dick in real life too, but he doesn't stop in the middle of the song to be like, "You gotta Jump, and fuck cancel culture!"
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Kid Rock: And ain't nobody, and ain't nobody
Well, that was how Kid Rock ended 2021. [screenshot of headline "KID ROCK's 'Bad Reputation' Album To Arrive This Month; Details Revealed"] He would start 2022 with a full album, the one that tanked so spectacularly.
Todd: And judging by the number of streams, the lead single is actually not the biggest.
"We The People" Are Tired of This[]
Clip of Kid Rock's...
Todd (VO): The biggest was actually the second single, called "We The People".
Kid Rock: We the people, in all we do
Reserve the right to scream "Fuck you!"
Look, I'm not John Oliver here, I don't really like debunking the songs I review. I mostly save that for fraudulent content creators.
Todd: But unlike the first song, which is just a rant about snowflakes, Kid does get a lot more detailed about his politics in this one, so...
Todd (VO): Preaching is gonna be a little unavoidable here. Starting right with the title.
Kid Rock: We the people
Like, the idea that Kid Rock is the voice of the people, versus everyone else, who are not people.
Todd: Fuck you, [image of the 2020 election results] you lost. I'm the voice of the people.
Kid Rock: We the people, let's go Brandon!
We the people, let's go Brandon!
Todd (VO): Man, remember "Let's go Brandon"? That was a thing, it was funny for half a second until [image of sign for Let's Go Brandon Store] it got beaten into the fucking ground.
Todd: I mean, that's at least [image of "Covfefe" merch] a bipartisan thing, we ruin jokes too.
Todd (VO): Anyway, the whole "Fuck Joe Biden" thing is so weird to me. Like, he's still president as of me recording this, but these last few years already feel like ancient history. [clip of Joe Biden campaign rally] Like, imagine being angry at Joe Biden, it's like he wasn't ever even there. It's like it all didn't happen.
Todd: Maybe I just don't have the imagination. Like, I get why my side would be angry at old Joe, but...
Clip of "We The People"
Todd (VO): If you're a conservative in 2022, what were you even angry about?
Todd: What did he do to you?
Clip of interview with...
Todd (VO): I probably wouldn't have agreed with George H. W. Bush's policies either but, like, I wouldn't be out, like, marching in the street. Like, who could get angry about someone that boring?
Clip of "We The People"
Kid Rock: Man, fuck Fauci
Oh right, the lockdowns, like... [image of Trump wearing a mask] Okay, try and remember who that started under. Boy, this shit- Man, I don't even have strong feelings about Anthony Fauci, but like, anyone who's angry at that guy is just a- a giant piece of shit. Like, I'm sorry that Anthony Fauci told you to wash your fucking hands you fucking babies, I'm sorry [image of a "No Masks" poster] a mask was such a goddamn imposition.
Kid Rock: Piece of shit, I don't see color
Black Lives Matter, no shit motherfucker
Todd (VO): Right... Okay, so one of Kid Rock's most cherished beliefs about himself is that he is not racist.
Clip of Associate Press video on Kid Rock
Kid Rock: I love black people!
Clip of "We The People"
There are two kinds of conservatives: the "Stop calling me racist" conservatives like Kid Rock, [image of a group of people holding torches] and the "I am extremely racist and will tell you so proudly" conservative. And it drives me crazy the one will pretend the other doesn't exist, because it's not, like, a small fringe, it's Trump's entire thing. Like, so hearing Kid Rock be like, "Black Lives Matter is so unnecessary, everyone agrees, don't they?"
Todd: No, they don't!
Todd (VO): Or this part.
Kid Rock: But COVID's near, it's coming to town
We gotta act quick, shut our borders down
Joe Biden does, the media embraces
Big Don does it and they call him racist
You know, I'm trying to be as fair as I can, I'm not trying to make apologies for Biden. I'm not super educated on his border policy, so maybe you can make a case for hypocrisy.
Todd: But uh, if I can defend "my side" a little, uh, I would say Donald Trump got called racist for his border policy because he said a lot of really racist things while doing it.
Clip of Trump giving a speech
Donald Trump: They're bringing crime, they're rapists.
Todd (VO): Like, he would say explicitly "I'm targeting specific races because they are specifically bad. I want less of them, I want less Muslims and Latinos cause they're all horrible criminals and they can't be trusted." [clip of "We The People"] Like, maybe Kid Rock was suffering from the same Trump amnesia everyone seemed to have once he left office. I mean, I certainly didn't wanna remember that time either, but it's crazy to be talking about this now, a week after this shit.
Clip from the September 2024 presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris
Trump: They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats, they're eating-
[sarcastically] Who could call that guy racist?
Todd: [sighs] But I don't wanna be up here lecturing about why this is wrong, and that is wrong, and...
Todd (VO): [sighs] That's tedious. Fortunately, that was, like, the only time Kid says anything substantial enough to make me think about how I'd answer it. The rest is just completely witless and pointless.
Same Politics, Same Jokes[]
Kid Rock: Fuck Facebook, fuck Twitter too
Todd: Well... Yeah.
Kid Rock: Fuck TMZ
Todd: Yes. Uh, I don't know why you expect me to be angry at that.
Kid Rock: You social media trolls
Y'all can suck on deez (Deez) deez nuts!
Todd (VO): I'm glad he clarified what "Deez" meant, could've been deez anything.
Todd: It's just a miserable exercise in bile. I mean, listen to this.
Kid Rock: If you down with love and wanna make things better
All we gotta do is just come together
Todd: Wait, what?
Todd (VO): Wait, wait, wait, hold on. "Come together"?
Kid Rock: Climb aboard this love boat
We all bleed red, brother, listen to me
It's time for love and unity
Come together?
Todd: You do know that "Let's go Brandon" doesn't actually mean "Let's go Brandon", right?
Todd (VO): You literally shout out Kyle Rittenhouse in the video! Even if you think that guy was completely, 100% justified...
Todd: ...he clearly does not represent peace and love!
Todd (VO): What's this supposed to mean, come together or I'll shoot you!?
Todd: Uh, I think we need some recent historical context.
Clips of Conservative Twins - "Gun Totin' Patriot"...
Todd (VO): Explicitly anti-woke music has existed before the last couple years, [...Jason Aldean - "Try That In a Small Town"...] but for the most part, it's been a curiously Biden-era phenomenon. [... and Oliver Anthony Music - "Rich Men North of Richmond"] Only after Trump left office did you start to see it have any real commercial impact.
Clip of Aaron Lewis - "Am I the Only One"...
Aaron Lewis: Am I the only one not brainwashed?
Only a few months before Kid Rock's MAGA play, another nu metal turned country guy, Aaron Lewis, had a major career revival with his red state anthem "Am I the Only One". [clip of Fox News story about...] Kid Rock surely saw that happen, and a lot of Kid Rock's friends think that his new turn was just him trying to revive his flagging career.
Todd: Which makes sense to me.
Clip of Loza Alexander - "Let's Go Brandon"...
Todd (VO): Certainly he was not the only guy who tried to make a quick buck off of "Let's go Brandon".
Todd: But those guys are grifters.
Clip of "Snowflakes" by...
Todd (VO): Guys like Tom MacDonald, Bryson Gray, they're panderers. I'm not saying they're secret lefties or anything, but they're in it for the money only. [clip of Aaron Lewis performing "Am I the Only One"] Now on the other hand, there are guys like Aaron Lewis or Jason Aldean who are actual true believers. And while I don't respect that either, you can at least tell they're being honest, it's not a gimmick they put on to sell records.
Todd: I'm not sure where Kid Rock is, though.
Clip of Tucker Carlson interview with Kid Rock
Todd (VO): Like, he's not the only guy who's gone down the rabbit hole as he got older.
Todd: And fair warning, I myself got three years at most before [screenshot of article "Dilbert creator Scott Adams was a comic strip star. After racist comments, he says he lost 80% of his income."] I lose my mind like the Dilbert guy so, you know, prepare yourself emotionally for that.
Clip of "We The People"
Todd (VO): But something about Kid Rock doesn't really feel like a believer. "Let's go Brandon", like, the Bud Light stunts, they're just obviously phony.
Todd: He admits in Rolling Stone that he doesn't actually have anything against trans people, and he's insistent that he hates Nazis.
Todd (VO): But it doesn't feel right to call him a pure MAGA exploitation mercenary either, because...
Todd: Because I guess there's something a little too naked about him.
Todd (VO): There's something emotional there that I can't quite put my finger on, what is his deal?
Todd: Well, let's see if his next song, "My Kind of Country", tells us anything.
American Hypocrite[]
Clip of Kid Rock performing "My Kind of Country"
Kid Rock: My kind of country has a Trump and a JFK
Todd: WHAT!?
Kid Rock: An NAACP and a NRA
Todd (VO): What are this man's politics!?
Todd: What do you mean you like JFK and Trump? You like presidents who cheat on their wives?
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Todd (VO): Like, I'm sorry, this is the kinda thing that drives me insane. You were literally just riding a rocket ship shaped like a middle finger and telling all the haters and losers on the left to eat your boot. [clip of "We The People"] Fuck the media, fuck millennials, fuck everybody, why can't we be friends?
Todd: Like, I have always been astounded by [images of "For God and the Christian Case for Trump", and a newspaper cover about Trump's "Grab them by the pussy" comment] right-wingers' ability to delude themselves about Donald Trump and what he thinks, but you should at least know what you think!
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Todd (VO): This is what you think!
Todd: And for the record, he wasn't the only one singing about coming together.
Clip of Zac Brown Band - "Same Boat"
Zac Brown: We could all believe what we believe
Todd (VO): Like, there were a lot of songs after Biden's election talking about this, like, in some kind of vain hope that the ugliness of the Trump years was behind us.
Clip of Tim McGraw & Tyler Hubbard - "Undivided"
Tim McGraw: Let the Good Lord reunite us
'Til this country that we love's undivided
Like, we're all gonna join hands, and sing "Kumbaya", and so on. And I- You know, I'll be fair, I thought those were bullshit too.
Todd: Like, do I think we need to come together, yes! I think you should come together with me.
Todd (VO): Yes, we have to stop being so divided...
Todd: ...because you keep dividing us.
Clip from a 2024 Trump Rally
Trump: We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin.
Todd (VO): I don't think this is a bipartisan problem.
Todd: Like, I know what that sounds like, but that- that's the truth. I think the problem is you.
Clip of "Undivided"
Todd (VO): And I can tell all these songs feel the same way, so I'm not buying this "come together" shit. Not from Tim McGraw...
Todd: ...and certainly not from Kid Rock. You don't mean it.
Clip of Kid Rock performing "My Kind of Country"
Todd (VO): If you write two songs saying "Fuck all the democrats", then be like, "Well, we need to tone down the rhetoric", that's not you extending a hand across the aisle, that's you telling your critics that they need to shut the fuck up.
Todd: No, you shut the fuck up!
Alright, Enough Politics[]
Todd (VO): The funny thing is that, after that wild beginning, he just drops politics entirely and starts singing about music he likes.
Kid Rock: A Buddy Guy, a Biggie and a Sly and the Family Stone
Jeez, the fucking name drops, man. Who do you think you are that you have the right to invoke Sly and the Family Sto-
Todd: Oh my god, I just realized. He's trying to remake "Everyday People".
Kid Rock: Ooh, sha-sha
Clip of Sly and the Family Stone performing "Everyday People"
Sly and the Family Stone: Ooh, sha-sha
Todd (VO): It's a direct reference, incredible. How dare you.
Sly and the Family Stone: Yeah, yeah
Sly and the Family Stone was an integrated, all-gender band making a genuine plea for peace. They didn't release "Everyday People" after a song called "Kill All the White People"!
Clip of Kid Rock performing "My Kind of Country"
Kid Rock: My kind of music give the people what they deserve
Todd: Wow, harsh burn for the people, there.
Kid Rock: My kinda country sounds a lot like rock 'n' roll
Todd (VO): Yeah, it sure does, which explains why Kid Rock has never really been embraced by country music either. [clip of Kid Rock ft. Hank Williams Jr. - "Redneck Paradise"] Like, it's funny that he's made permanent residence in Nashville and had crossover hits, and yet country music seems to never have really taken to him. It feels like if he targeted his country audience better, he could've done something there, but it didn't work either.
Todd: Now, before we get any deeper into this record, I should explain the obvious reason why the album tanked so hard, [image of Kid Rock Records t-shirt] which is that this is Kid Rock's first album on his own independent label. So he doesn't have access to all the dirty [logos for Sony Music, UMG, and Warner Music] promotional tricks and ticket bundles that the majors do. But still, [screenshot of the album's peak] 124.
Clip of "Peacemaker" by...
Todd (VO): The fucking Scorpions debuted in the top 50 that year, [...and "The Tipping Point" by...] Tears for Fears in the top 10! [clip of Kid Rock - "Never Quit"] Even by the low bar of legacy acts and explicitly right-wing music, this did terribly. [clip of acoustic performance from...] Aaron Lewis's last album did better than that, and it's not even the one with the hit!
I Don't Give a Damn 'Bout My...[]
Todd: Well anyway, now we move away from explicit politics to the title track, "Bad Reputation".
Clip of Kid Rock performing "Bad Reputation"
Todd (VO): Which is just about his bad reputation for partying, not his real-life bad reputation for being a hateful dumbass.
Kid Rock: I got a bad reputation for a real good time
Yeah, I think I've heard this one before.
Clip of The Georgia Satellites - "Keep Your Hands to Yourself"
Dan Baird: Don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself
Todd (VO): It's not like that song was extremely original either. [back to the Kid Rock performance] Now, this is just some Southern boogie rock like you can hear on any fossil rock station across America.
Todd: And you can also hear it on other cuts from this album, such as "Rockin'".
Kid Rock: Rockin', rockin' away
Todd: Or "She's Your Baby (Now Rock Her)".
Kid Rock: She's your baby, now rock her, yeah
Todd: This is actually most of the album.
Clip of Kid Rock - "Roll On"
Todd (VO): And in fact, most of his last few albums. Now, a lot of associates say that they think his rightward turn is just him following his audience.
Clip of interview with Kid Rock
Kid Rock: Rev Run told me years ago, "Go where you're celebrated, not tolerated."
Todd: And if that's true...
Clip of Kid Rock - "Tennessee Mountain Top"
Todd (VO): ...well, maybe he wouldn't have to chase this audience of deranged Facebook boomers if he'd kept up at all with anything new. [clip of "Welcome 2 the Party"] Like, when he broke out in the '90s, he was still more or less in conversation with hip hop. But at some time he gave that up and devoted his career to making that old time rock-n-roll. [clip of Kid Rock - "Johnny Cash"] And if I can quote an old AV Club review I remember, [screenshot of the quote] "A Kid Rock that rocks out with his cock respectfully in his pants is no Kid Rock at all." [clips of "Never Quit"...] Only recently has he tried to get some of his swagger back, and that's probably why it's all seemed kinda forced. [...Eminem - "Berzerk"...] Kid Rock's buddy Eminem has always been ambivalent about Slim Shady, and I think Kid Rock would have also retired [..."American Bad Ass"...] the American Badass persona if he could get anywhere without it, but he can't. [...Kid Rock - "American Rock 'n Roll"...] Now, I support the idea of a Bruno Mars-type revivalist for classic rock in theory. [...and Bruno Mars - "Versace on the Floor"] But Bruno doesn't just have nostalgia going for him, he also has tunes, he has energy. [back to "American Rock 'n Roll"] Kid Rock stopped having hits because, for the most part, he just got kinda boring.
I'm Comin' After You[]
Todd: Speaking of that old time rock-n-roll, [image of Kid Rock performing with...] Kid Rock's idol Bob Seger makes it onto this album, in spirit at least.
Clip of Bob Seger - "Shakedown"
Todd (VO): There is a song on here called "Shakedown", which takes from the Seger song of the same name,
Bob Seger: Shakedown, breakdown, takedown
"Shakedown" is Seger's final hit, his biggest hit, and in hindsight, his worst hit. It was a soundtrack song he recorded for hire, Seger fans mostly hate the song, and Seger himself does not seem to be fond of it either.
Todd: But Kid Rock is not that discerning, so he re-made it.
Clip of Kid Rock ft. Robert James - "Shakedown"
Kid Rock: Shakedown, breakdown, takedown
It's in the air, can you feel it tonight?
Todd (VO): Now, you might notice that this sucks in a different way than the rest of the album sucks. Uh, it's the only song on here that sounds like it was made this millennium. That's probably because of the influence of the guy featuring on it.
Robert James: Life on the edge, party like a rockstar
Pedal to the floor, and it doesn't matter how far
That guy is named Robert James, he looks like a Key and Peele character, and [image of Kid Rock and Robert] he is, in fact, Kid Rock's son. And god, how weird it must be to be the black son of confederate flag waver Kid Rock. Anyway, his nepo baby child is probably the only reason Kid Rock has heard of trap beats, and I'm not a fan of the original "Shakedown", but it's definitely better than this TikTok emo rap thing he's turned it into. I guess Robert James was trying to become the new [image of...] Jxdn, I guess. It's hilarious how dated this already is, by the way. Between this and "Let's go Brandon", I can pinpoint the exact month in 2021 when this album was recorded.
Doesn't Get Any Better[]
Todd: It's funny how Kid Rock started as a rapper, cause his lyrical skills have degraded terribly.
Clip of "Never Quit"
Kid Rock: I'm gonna fight like a Jeep, they all gonna see
Todd (VO): You're gonna fight like a Jeep? You sure you don't mean, like, a tank or something? You take a Jeep to the beach.
Clip of Kid Rock performing "Am What I Am"
Kid Rock: So fly, you could call me the fliest
So high, you could call me your highness
Like, this is all gibberish, he just has no ideas anymore.
Todd: Like, he has a song on here that's a tribute to dearly-departed dead friends called, no joke, "See You Again".
Clip of Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - "See You Again"
Charlie Puth: Oh-oh, oh, oh
Todd (VO): No, not the very famous number 1 hit song about the same subject with the same name. No, a much inferior Kid Rock version.
Clip of Kid Rock performing "See You Again"
Kid Rock: But I know one day, I'll see you again
I'd say that he deserves to go right to title jail for this, but I'm fairly certain this is not a ripoff. [clip of Wiz and Charlie's "See You Again"] Because I'm sure that Kid Rock has never heard of that song, because he hasn't heard a rap song that came out since Biggie died.
Todd: Meanwhile, here's a song about how that good old rock-n-roll just makes you feel good.
Clip of Kid Rock - "Still Somethin'"
Kid Rock: Still something 'bout rock 'n roll
Todd (VO): Where he talks up Journey of all fucking bands.
Kid Rock: I saw Journey at the big Colosseum
No dancing, no lip syncing
I tell you this, don't fight the feeling
And don't stop believing
No man has ever been this old.
Todd: Like, I love Journey just as much as any of you guys.
Clip of Journey - "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"
Todd (VO): But are we seriously gonna hold up Journey, the poster band of corporate rock cheese, as the height of authenticity?
Clip of "Still Somethin'"
Kid Rock: I'll tell you this, don't fight the feeling
No man, "Fight This Feeling" was Speedwagon, not Journey.
Kid Rock: She took me down to the Paradise City
Then up on Cripple Creek [record scratches]
Todd (VO): Is that a fucking DJ scratch? How are you gonna be like, "Only rock matters", and then throw in a DJ scratch? The people you're pandering to think that rap is crap!
Todd: Now, we have gone mostly without politics for about ten songs here. But he does start to get a tiny bit political towards the end.
Clip of Kid Rock performing...
Todd (VO): This one's called "Cold Beer". And of all the songs, I think this one's the closest to what his actual politics are.
Kid Rock: There ain't nothing on the TV
But the signs of war
All the talk about global warming
Keeps heating me up to the core
Just give me some cold beer
Todd: Global warming? [image of meme about...] God, he just wants to grill, for god's sakes. Again, you realize that you are Kid Rock, right?
Clip of Kid Rock performing at the RNC
Todd (VO): If you wanna hear less politics, stop performing at political conventions.
Brother’s Fighting Imaginary Hellcats… and Hounds[]
Todd: But I think the most important song on here is not explicitly political, but I think it will tell you everything you need to know about Kid Rock's worldview. It is called "The Nashville I Know".
Clip of Kid Rock performing "Nashville I Know"
Kid Rock: There's a line out the door
Full of underage whores
And the bouncer lets 'em on by
Todd (VO): Uh-huh, so this is Kid Rock complaining that Nashville, where he lives now, has become a city full of douchebags and assholes.
Kid Rock: Baby, this ain't the Nashville I know
Yeah, I think it's pretty annoying...
Todd: ...for a goddamn transplant to complain about this.
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Todd (VO): Like, aren't you Detroit 'til you die, motherfucker? Move back if you don't like it.
Todd: But you know, Nashville is a showbiz town, lots of people move there. And Kid Rock's definitely not the only person I've heard complaining that the city has changed.
Clip of a Nashville party bus ad with "Nashville I Know" playing over it
Kid Rock: And the girls think it's cool when the guys act like tools
Todd (VO): Over the last ten years, Nashville has become Nash-Vegas, the bachelorette party capital of the world.
Todd: Uh, I was visiting my parents, and Nashville's not too far from there, so I made a day trip and, like...
Video Todd took stuck in Nashville nighttime traffic with a crowd of people crossing the street
Todd (VO): Yeah, it did seem like kind of an obnoxious place. A lot of locals say it's become, like, spring break year 'round.
Todd: Uh, I don't know why that is, but...
Videos of Broadway in Nashville showing a dozen celebrity bars
Todd (VO): From what I've read, a big reason why this happened is the rise of all these trendy celebrity-branded bars that started popping up in the mid-2010s all over downtown.
Todd: Bars like...
Videos of...
Todd (VO): ...Kid Rock's Big-Ass Honky Tonk Rock 'n Roll Steakhouse. Where you can buy Kid Rock merch, buy Kid Rock themed drinks, and listen to the cover band play Kid Rock songs.
Todd: So keep in mind, when you hear him complain about the town being full of douchebags, motherfucker, you are part of the problem!
Clip of Kid Rock performing "Nashville I Know"
Kid Rock: Some dude gave a high-five to his buddy's new highlights
"I swear bro, I can't see your roots"
Todd (VO): This is so stupid. I've lived most of my life in destination cities.
Todd: If you don't like the touristy parts of town, then just don't go there. Find the good parts.
Kid Rock: And the girls are all bitches
Todd (VO): And I'm sorry man, but who are you to complain about underage girls? [image of the lyric about...] I thought that shit was mandatory?
Kid Rock: These jerk-offs and metros
Are we seriously talking about "metros" in 2022? Like, there was definitely a slur there originally that Kid Rock didn't have the guts to keep.
Todd: He can just say it, man. Like, I'm not gonna think less of you than I already do. You're a 50-year-old man who uses the word "fucktard".
Kid Rock: Some fucktard in France
Designed their new lizard skin boots
One Last Ride[]
Todd: And speaking of getting old, there is the album closer, "Fifty".
Clip of Kid Rock performing "Fifty"
Kid Rock: Well, I guess I'm fuckin' fifty
Some say I'm old as fuck
Todd (VO): Yes, Kid Rock wants you to know that even though he is firmly into middle age, he still rocks.
Todd: He's not that old, damnit!
Kid Rock: Well, I guess I'm fuckin' fifty
But I still love to dance
Yeah, I might be fuckin' fifty (Oh, got a mighty one, Jesus)
I think I just shit my pants
Todd (VO): Funny. Kid, I wish the most embarrassing thing you did when you got older was shit your pants.
Todd: But though Kid Rock does have it in him to be self deprecating, we always come back to his main point: Kid Rock is still cool.
Kid Rock: I might be fuckin' fifty
But I still don't give one fuck
Todd: And no matter how old he gets, he'll still be cool. But it's very clear he doesn't think he's cool anymore. He used to believe it, and now he doesn't.
Clip of Trump's 2024 campaign rally in the Bronx
Todd (VO): Like, I've always wondered why so many rappers in particular seem to like Trump.
Todd: And I did think that part of it is that he's [images of Trump with two Playboy models...] a flashy billionaire who fucks porn stars [...and Trump in his New York penthouse] and shits on a gold toilet. I think that's the attraction for Kid Rock too. And that makes for an incredibly strange album.
Outro[]
Clip of "We The People"
Todd (VO): Where he's riding the middle finger rocket ship, and then he's like, "Well, why can't we get along?" In the Rolling Stone interview, he kinda gives it all away. At points he's trying to front, like, "The madder you get, the better it is for me." But then there's parts where he's like, "This sucks and I'm never coming back from this." Where he'll spew the right-wing talking points, but not in a way that makes it seem like he's thought that hard about it or really cares that much.
Todd: I don't know. Is he a true believer? Is he a grifter? I don't think he's either, I think he's a wannabe.
Todd (VO): He spent his life idealizing and emulating the gritty authenticity of poor Southern trailer trash, even though he's not poor and he's not Southern. Again, I'm not saying that he's not conservative, but as far as I can tell, he likes Trump not because he's, like, this humongous hatemonger deep down, but he just thinks that being a big, loud jackass is actually really cool.
Todd: But he doesn't actually wanna be that guy, he just wants to keep singing his country songs and living like a rockstar.
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Todd (VO): But he's boxed himself into this path, because the MAGA heads are desperate for any kind of celebrity, so it's the only thing that'll keep him in the news. If he had actually believed in making cranky Republican music, he would've done it before the 2020s. He doesn't really have the conviction of all those middle fingers, so he ends up speaking out both sides of his mouth.
Clip from The Social Network
Erica Albright (Rooney Mara): You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just trying so hard to be.
Todd: Personally, I think if you're trying to be an asshole, you are an asshole.
Clip of "Rich Men North of Richmond"
Todd (VO): But there's something sadder about it, right? The right-wing songs that have succeeded did so because they spoke to right-wingers' actual beliefs and concerns. [clip of "Shakedown"] This failed because his only actual belief is that Kid Rock is cool, and that the mainstream media is fake because they tell you that Kid Rock isn't cool. And that we should all come together as Americans to agree that Kid Rock is still cool. [clip of "Never Quit"] A liar would pander more successfully, and an honest man would be more relatable. But a poser just...
Todd: ...gains no respect.
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Kid Rock: I'm like Shotgun Willie, smokin' Phillies
Todd (VO): Now, this album and their videos actually have a lot more streams than expected, so maybe this is him getting what he wanted. But I still think it's fair to say that he lost more than he gained by it. [clip of Kid Rock performing at the RNC] When was the last time you saw Kid Rock on anything except Trump-related stuff? [clip of...] When Eminem threw a tribute to Detroit music this year, the scene Kid Rock has been one of the most vocal standard-bearers for for years, guess who was notably absent?
Todd: Kid Rock has lost everything, and it's not just because of the politics.
Clips of "Try That In a Small Town" by...
Todd (VO): Cause Jason Aldean is a big dumb Trump guy. [...meeting with Trump and...] Kanye loved Trump, and he said way worse shit than Kid Rock ever did. [...and "Houdini" by...] And for that matter, Eminem's reviving his schtick from 1999, and he's ranting about participation trophies, and he sounds just as old and decrepit as Kid Rock does. And yet all of those guys, [promotional clip of “Vultures” by ¥$ (Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign)] still top of the charts, still highly respected in their [clip of Jason Aldean acoustic performance] respective genres and industries. I'm not saying they all should be, but they are.
Todd: How did they get away with it, but not Kid Rock?
Clip of "Cowboy"
Todd (VO): Well, the obvious explanation is that, unlike Kanye or Eminem, Kid Rock wasn't ever any good.
Todd: I mean, that hurts my teenage self to say but, like....
Clip of "American Bad Ass"
Todd (VO): To the extent that he was good, he wasn't good enough to be keeping tabs on as he reached middle age. He touched no part of anyone's childhood that they need preserved. [clip of "Stronger" by...] Like, it would be very hard to cut Kanye from my soul.
Todd: It was very easy to cut Kid Rock.
Clip of "Don't Tell Me How to Live"
Kid Rock: I twang more riffs
Todd (VO): This shit's just fucking sad.
Todd: He just wanted to be liked. So he tied himself to the most unlikable man in America. Pathetic. [gets up and leaves]
Monster Truck: Nobody gonna tell me how to live!
Sponsor[]
Todd: And, one last thing.
Clip of "Flagpole Sitta" by...
Todd (VO): Do you remember a while back, I did a One Hit Wonderland video about the band Harvey Danger? [clips of videos from Sean Nelson] And I happened to mention that the lead singer is also a music critic, and probably a better one than I am?
Todd: Well, he's about to be a better content creator than me also.
Clip from "The Wonder of It All"
Todd (VO): That guy is named Sean Nelson, and he has a new podcast, "The Wonder of It All", about the blessings and curses of success. Where he interviews all sorts of famous artists, like John Hodgman, or Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows about the ways their lives and careers were shaped by one conspicuous breakthrough moment. And how the experience changed their lives an careers for good and for bad. It's kinda like my show, One Hit Wonderland, except I never had the guts to talk to any of those people in person.
Todd: And you can check out this podcast on Nebula.
Clip of Nebula ad
Todd (VO): A creator-specific platform where you can watch other great creators like Big Joel, F.D Signifier, and myself. It is the most exciting independent streaming platform around right now, and you can get a lifetime membership. For literally just $300, you will never have to pay a single cent ever again to subscribe.
Todd: For as long as both you and Nebula exist on this Earth, you're in.
Todd (VO): Or, if you wanna do just the regular monthly subscription, you can sign up with my link. Not only will you get access to the entire Nebula library, but you will get it for only 2 dollars and 50 cents a month.
Todd: And you'll also be helping me out specifically, which I'd appreciate.
Todd (VO): So click the link in the description, and check it out below.
Todd: Thank you, and goodnight.
Ending Music: Todd plays "Don't Tell Me How to Live" on the piano
THE END
"Bad Reputation" is owned by Top Dog Records
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!