Kid Rock

Highlighted by "Bawitdaba" and the revelatory (in 1998) "Cowboy," this is the album that made Kid Rock an MTV, tabloid and even Rolling Stone megastar after eight years of obscurity. No matter how you slice the overdose of white trash posturing, chugging guitars and metal beats just made for the stripper pole, "Cowboy"'s fast food appeal and redneck aesthetic marked a decided first for the mainstream. The title cut proves why Rock, regardless of his massive popularity, has a certain irrefutable cache. For better or for worse, "I Am the Bullgod" combines hip-hop and, um, grunge.

Wish this "illegitimate son of man" would stop pretending he's a pimp--he tours so much he can't possibly provide the necessary continuity. But not since great Motörhead has there been a hard rock album with so many laugh lines: "I don't like small cars or real big women/But somehow I always find myself in 'em." Belatedly fulfilling the rap-metal promise of Licensed To Ill, he makes the competition sound clownish, limp, and corny, respectively, and the Eminem cameo is a draw--his flow is surer even if his sound isn't. Lickin' pussy underwater blowin' bubbles up your ass, he is, and I quote, all of that and a bag of chips. (Grade - A-)