Steve 'Flash' Juon“I’m here, and I’m there
I’m Kid Rock ho, and I’m everywhere”
That may be true these days, but Kid Rock was definitely not “everywhere” in 1993 when “The Polyfuze Method” was released. In fact it would have been more accurate to say Kid Rock was not anywhere. Released by Jive Records after “Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast” failed to meet expectations, the rapper born Robert Ritchie was forced to find his own distribution for his follow up album. One can’t say Kid Rock wasn’t aware of his predicament when he released a single and accompanying music video titled “Back From the Dead.” He knew the music industry had already labelled him The Great White Flop, and thanks to Vanilla Ice it would be even harder for white rappers to have credibility going forward.
By using the same “Ashley’s Roachclip” drums as Eric B. & Rakim’s “Paid In Full” and the same “Can’t Fight the Judge” riff 3rd Bass used for “Steppin’ to the A.M.,” producer Mike E. Clark either accidentally or purposefully made the link between Kid Rock’s precarious status in rap. There’s no doubt Kid Rock was serious about his music career. If he wasn’t he would have folded up his tent and gone home after being cut by a major, the very thing most artists strive their whole career for. A good analogy might be getting signed to a NBA team, playing one season, and immediately being cut and not picked up by anyone else. Rock was having to fight a war on two fronts — being labeled a poseur as a white boy, and being labeled a failure as an artist. He’d have to find his own way back into the spotlight.
What may surprise newcomers to “The Polyfuze Method” is just how much Kid Rock sounds like the “Bawitdaba” man who became a huge rap star just five years later. Songs like “Killin’ Brain Cells” are Schoolly D meets Beastie Boys, becoming the prototype for the “rap rock” fusion that would see him ultimately get his revenge on Jive Records. He takes a few stabs at his perceived image in the process, sampling Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice on the track before a quip of Ice Cube’s “Turn Off the Radio” screams “turn off that bullshit!” It’s not subtle and it doesn’t need to be. Rock’s attitude bleeds through the track with or without his “I’m Kid Rock bitch” proclamations.
“I’m not your average rapper” quips Ritchie on “Pancake Breakfast,” a song which ramps up the “rock” aspect of Kid Rock another notch by sampling the Butthole Surfers of all people for the first verse. He also slides in a surprising reference by saying “I turn more tricks than Tony Hawk” long before the skateboard superstar had gone mainstream with a series of successful video games. As much as I credit Rock and Mike E. Clark for successfully resurrecting a seemingly dead end career here, I’d feel the review isn’t complete if I didn’t mention his casual homophobia on this track. “Jumping ’round like a homo on a pogo stick.” It feels so unnecessary, but he consistently throws around the words “bitch” and “fag” throughout the entire album, so if nothing else he’s an equal opportunity offender.
At times the “fuze” part of this rap rock fusion seems a little confused. On “U Don’t Know Me” he sounds like he’s trying to go back to the 1980’s as a mixture of Tone Loc, Run-D.M.C. and Young MC. “I Am the Bullgod” was the first indication that Rock would ultimately abandon rap to sing country rock and blues, an unintentionally prescient song so early in his career. “In So Deep” is somewhere between Seattle’s grunge sound and the proto-rap style of Suicidal Tendencies. “Fucking A is all I got to say.” Okay then. It’s not credited anywhere but I could swear I hear a sample of Megadeth’s “Symphony of Destruction” on this one.
There’s a lot about Kid Rock I don’t agree with these days, but I can give “The Polyfuze Method” respect for Ritchie refusing to take no for an answer from the recording industry. He’s experimenting with a whole lot of different sounds here — some that work, some that don’t, and some that would become a lot more familiar in the years that come. The old cliche is that you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs first, and Kid Rock went into the hen house with a frying pan and a guitar and started smashing everything in sight. It’s messy at times but at least it’s interesting.