Playboy's 20Q: Kid Rock

1

[Q] Playboy: You're everywhere we look. At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame you led the jam session with Tom Petty and Steve Winwood. Next you're at a Willie Nelson tribute, and Keith Richards, Jerry Lee Lewis and Merle Haggard are playing in your band. How'd you turn into the host with the most?

[A] Kid Rock: I just like to jam. I like to play. It's amazing to see the people at this level who can't jam. People at the top of the charts who sell all these records and yet can't fucking jam. You'd think they would learn how to jam before attempting to become superstars—that might help music out a little bit. In this day and age when everything's so contrived, maybe people feel it if you're doing something from the heart. Or maybe I'm just fun to hang out with.

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[Q] Playboy: You became popular for a sound that merged rock and rap, but lately you've moved toward country. Does different music bring you a different audience?

[A] Kid Rock: A couple of good ballads equals a lot more good-looking girls at the shows. I don't care how cool someone thinks it is, I do not want to be playing in front of 10,000 sweaty guys every night. I love Slipknot—I like their records—but I don't want to play for that crowd.

3

[Q] Playboy: "Picture" was a major turning point in your career. It's certainly your biggest hit. Why did you have so much trouble getting it released?

[A] Kid Rock: At first I didn't know it was one of the best songs I'd ever written, and it wasn't until later, when we recorded it, that everyone agreed it was kind of magical. Then people started overthinking it. I don't want to mention names, but one of the heads of the record company said to me, "I've been singing it to people at the radio stations, and they're not really hearing it." And I'm like, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're singing it? You can't sing—obviously you'd be in a different position if you could." That was just comical to me. Then I had to confront somebody and say, "I heard you said that if we release this single it'll kill my career. Is that true?" And they said yeah. I pretty much said, "Fuck you. That's wrong." And then of course the record was successful, and those same people took credit for it.

4

[Q] Playboy: Were you angry?

[A] Kid Rock: It just pisses me off. At first, when you're young, you don't care, and now it feels as if all I do is bitch about this shit. It's almost to the point that I ought to just shut my fucking mouth and go home to my fucking money and fuck all y'all [laughs]. Because it's not fun to sit around bitching about it. Whatever happened to talking about pussy and blow?

5

[Q] Playboy: So how would you fix the record business?

[A] Kid Rock: Sign talented people. People with some scars and some cuts and some feel, bands that have been out touring, playing music. Don't go fish some fucking kid out of a mall for some goddamned American Idol bullshit show. I mean, that's a great comedy sketch, but put one of these fucking American idols next to me on a fucking stage and let's see who ends up the idol. It's sad, too, because these kids are just trying to make some money, and God bless 'em, they should be able to, but look what it's done to music. It's turned it into garbage. So I'd start by signing talented people. I think that's where it's going, too—you see it coming around.

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[Q] Playboy: Record companies are in a frenzy over downloading and piracy. Are you worried?

[A] Kid Rock: It's going to happen. We're not going to stop it. It's like anything else—someone will capitalize and make a mint off it, and then we'll all get jacked around, walls will be set up, and eventually it'll work itself out. Right now who knows who's doing it right and who's doing it wrong? When it first started happening the record companies came to me and said, "We need you to stand up against this bootlegging and piracy and shit. All the other artists are." But after doing research on it and talking to people with some brains—because I'm not the most knowledgeable person on this—I said, "Wait a second." The record companies have been ripping off the artists for years. Now somebody's ripping off the record companies, and they want the artists to stand up for them. So I was like, "Fuck you! I'm happy they're ripping you off." It's kind of funny. I'm getting ripped off either way.

7

[Q] Playboy: Will albums last?

[A] Kid Rock: It's turning into a singles market. I love how they do those awards shows, like [in an announcer's voice], "And now, with 10 number one singles...." Man, you look back 20 years at all the number one hits from the old Billboards and you don't know any of them—they're all garbage! It's just because radio is such a political, bullshit world. But I think a great album is where the true heart of the thing lies. I don't want to have my shit turn into singles. I don't mind you downloading my shit—download the album, fine. But just cherry-picking songs, fuck that.

8

[Q] Playboy: How does the country world stack up to the hip-hop world?

[A] Kid Rock: If you're blind, they're identical. They're two communities that aren't mainstream but influence the mainstream heavily, and they both talk about their communities and what's going on with their heritage and culture. Each side has a tight-knit group of people who guest on each other's records and tours. It's funny to see it all start to mesh, too. Proof, from Eminem's group D12, just said to me, "God, my favorite song is 'It's Five O'Clock Somewhere,' " by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett. That's just one example, but you hear it all the time.

[A] It's totally going to happen. As white hip-hop kids get back in touch with their roots—and, I guess you could say, with their whiteness—it's inevitable. It will help a lot in race relations, too. To have someone who is white and someone who is black and have them be exactly who they want to be, do whatever they want and be able to get along—I mean, that's pretty much the key. It's not going to end racism, but it'll be a positive thing.

9

[Q] Playboy: You went to Iraq and played for the troops. What was that like?

[A] Kid Rock: It was all great, very rewarding, one of the best experiences of my life. Flying into Baghdad International Airport and walking through this crowd of 5,000 people and everyone's just screaming—it's the biggest accolade you can get, a bigger scream than we could ever hear in the largest arena in the United States. Think of when you're watching a movie and someone's acting like he's starving. You can't really appreciate it 'cause you're sitting there with a big fucking popcorn and a Coke in your hand. You just can't appreciate it enough until you go there and see how young these kids are and how hot and shitty it is, with sand and garbage blowing all over. It's the worst possible fucking place you could be on the face of the earth. Why can't we have a war in Tahiti?

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[Q] Playboy: What are your feelings about the war at this point?

[A] Kid Rock: I won't necessarily always agree with the president, but I'll support him and stand by him. To be honest, I'm not educated enough to speak about it, and I don't think any of these other motherfuckers are, either. I'm pretty sure Janeane Garofalo's and that chick from the Dixie Chicks' educations don't stretch that far. Look up Condi Rice's or George Bush's education, where they went to school. They've been doing this shit their whole fucking lives, while we've been out dicking around with guitars, entertaining people. Fuckers in Hollywood who want to use the camera to be like, "Guess who I'm fuckin' now?" and "Oh, stop the war!"—all that shit just makes me sick. It really makes my stomach turn.

11

[Q] Playboy: Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-synching on Saturday Night Live. And last year you complained about the Super Bowl halftime show, not because of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction but because no one sang live.

[A] Kid Rock: I don't give a shit if my kid sees Janet Jackson's boob. Big deal. What I do give a shit about is if someone—and I don't know if this is true—was trying to use that as a publicity scam. Then you can go fuck yourself. How about this: Next time leave your tape machine at home and sing live, because then you wouldn't have the time to sit around and conjure up plans to pull off your shirt. At halftime I was the only one singing live, and I'm proud to say it. I'm not putting anybody else down, but I'm proud that I always sing live. I'm not the greatest singer in the world, but I ain't scared. The attraction of live performance has come down to shock value: "Is someone going to pull his dick out? We better pay attention."

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[Q] Playboy: Back in the early 1990s you were struggling, doing things like playing eighth on a bill of nine on a rap tour. How do you look back on those years?

[A] Kid Rock: It goes back to what I was saying earlier about having some scars and some feel, finding out what works and what doesn't. It's just experience, like with anything else. I don't want some fucking 18-year-old kid to paint my house. I want the guy who's been doing it for a while, who really knows what he's doing, who's a professional. Sometimes it does get to be routine—same setup, same bus. I mean, I love it to death, but it's the show that keeps us going, switching it up every night. But back then it was different every night. Maybe we would get a hotel room and wouldn't have to sleep on top of the van that night. Maybe we could have people help us load our shit in today. Ah, that made it awesome back then.

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[Q] Playboy: Was there a low point?

[A] Kid Rock: Probably years ago, before my kid was born, being in New York for a year and making the Polyfuze Method album, living like a rat, on dope and crack. That was pretty low—but even so, it wasn't that low. I still made my albums, did my shit, kept moving forward. It wasn't some fucking sad story in my life. It was a coming-of-age experience.

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[Q] Playboy: Fame and money can come quickly. Are you surprised that more rappers and rockers don't get into more trouble?

[A] Kid Rock: It's weird. My experience in the hood is that those kids were a lot more educated in a lot of ways than we were as kids in the suburbs. You didn't have to preach to those kids about not doing drugs, about what the value of a dollar meant. Then all of a sudden somebody gets all that money and loses his fucking mind. Everybody hears all the stories, from Behind the Music on down. If you've got half a fucking brain cell left you can look at this shit and go, "Oh, all right, I should look out for that slip." At least invent a new way to fuck up. That would be okay. Spend $50 million to try to go to the moon or something. That would have been a good one if that kid—whatever the kid's name is from 'N Sync [Lance Bass]—succeeded at it. Spend all his fucking money and then get shafted—at least that Behind the Music story would be original.

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[Q] Playboy: Whom do you look at and say, "That's the career I want to have"?

[A] Kid Rock: Bob Seger has been a role model for me. He's been around so long and has made such great music. He's paid his dues really hard, he's proud to be where he's from, he's a great family man, and he walked away from all this with his dignity, without looking like an idiot, without bitching and moaning about how hard he worked. It's great to see somebody walk away from this with his dignity, because so many people don't, and they turn into jokes. Or I could just be like Willie Nelson and hang out and (concluded on page 142)Kid Rock(continued from page 130) smoke weed and have fun. That sounds nice. I could go either way, man.

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[Q] Playboy: What have you learned from hanging out with Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis and those guys?

[A] Kid Rock: Actually, I'm going to Memphis to record with Jerry Lee, to get some piano lessons. You can't learn that any where. I don't think enough of that is being passed down from these great players. I know I wouldn't have learned anywhere else the shit Hank Jr. has shown me on guitar. "Oh no, you tune it down like this. Let me show you that Allman Brothers chord here. Oh, if you want to play with that bottle, you gotta go like this." They'll show you the real way, a lesson you can't get at Guitar Center. That's the most valuable shit you can learn. I have no problem saying I'm not the best player. I'll get there one day, but as cocky and outspoken ass I am I'm humble enough to know when someone's better, and I know how to shut the fuck up and listen. I'm Pretty good at that.

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[Q] Playboy: You're very close to your young son. Does he go on the road with you?

[A] Kid Rock: He came out last weekend. He's 11, and the older he gets, the more fun it gets. We just do fun shit, like when me and him and Uncle Kracker bought the same outfits—blue sports coats, Nike Air Force 1s and little derby hats and shit to go pimping in. He understands what his dad is. He knows we're going to be drinking, having a good time, and he sees things in a certain light and knows no harm's being done—something people from the outside looking in might not understand. But I know he understands. He's my son. He isn't starstruck, just does not give a shit at all. He's been around it and the people who come through the house enough. Maybe if the star of Yu-Gi-Oh! showed up he'd be impressed, but other than that he just doesn't care.

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[Q] Playboy: Some of your girlfriends—Pam Anderson, Jaime Pressly—have had a certain visibility in this magazine. Is it at all strange knowing that millions of guys checked out your girlfriend naked?

[A] Kid Rock: Not at all. I think, if anything, it's great, as a matter of fact, because it lets you know who's the man [laughs]. Oh my God, don't print it like that. Make sure there's quote marks around that and it says I'm laughing—"The singer goes, 'Ha-ha.' " I would come off so bad if you print it like that. I am just joking.

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[Q] Playboy: We'll take care of you. You're a pretty scraggly dude—how do you wind up with women like that? What's your advice?

[A] Kid Rock: I don't even know. I'm just not a dick. As much as I might sound like one on my records, I'm just not a dick. Just be cool and be yourself, be funny, be nice to people. How about that for a concept? Just be nice. You can do whatever the fuck you want if you're nice. "Can I put it in your ass—please?" [laughs]

20

[Q] Playboy: You've had Pam Anderson as a girlfriend, been a character on The Simpsons, sung at the Super Bowl. What's left to accomplish?

[A] Kid Rock: Die young, leave a good-looking corpse, right? I don't know. It would have been nice to have a big family—I always kind of wanted that—but I guess with what I do, God's not going to afford me that. But I really can't complain about what he has afforded me, so it's like anything else—you can't have it all. I don't know if I'm really into having a 15-year-old kid and having babies running around again. I've often thought about adopting some older kids. We'll see what happens.

[A] I'm either going to find a wife or I'm going to get some servants. But I don't want them for the same reason [laughs]—it's not that I want a wife to be a servant. With a wife, I could have somebody around who could really enjoy everything I have, who I could just share it all with. But other than that I'd want servants so I could have all my friends over all the time, and then the servants could just clean everything up.

My experience in the hood is that those kids were a lot more educated in a lot of ways than we were. You didn't have to preach to those kids about not doing drugs.

Just be cool and be yourself, be funny, be nice to people. How's that for a concept? Just be nice.