Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp

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The recording sessions saw Kid Rock work with R&B singer Thornetta Davis, who says that she asked him not to credit her on the album due to its risque lyrics on the song "Paid", but this request was ignored. The album's title came from engineer Bob Ebeling, who told a sleepless, alcoholic, drug-using Kid Rock, "Dude, you are the early-morning, stoned pimp."{{cite web|url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2015/08/26/kid-rock-early-years-detroit/31193049/|title=Kid Rock before the fame: The definitive Detroit oral history|website=Freep.com|access-date=9 July 2018}} The recording sessions marked the first time Kid Rock would work with Jimmie "Bones" Trombly, who soon joined his backup band, Twisted Brown Trucker.{{cite web|url=http://www.theoaklandpress.com/arts-and-entertainment/20170726/kid-rock-keyboardist-jimmie-bones-wanders-into-his-own-album-finally|title=Kid Rock keyboardist Jimmie Bones wanders into his own album, finally|website=Theoaklandpress.com|access-date=9 July 2018|archive-date=9 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709154248/http://www.theoaklandpress.com/arts-and-entertainment/20170726/kid-rock-keyboardist-jimmie-bones-wanders-into-his-own-album-finally|url-status=dead}}

"Jackson, Mississippi" was originally recorded for the album, but remained unreleased until Kid Rock's self-titled 2003 album.

Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp features what MTV describes as "[an] eclectic collection of funk, rap, soul and rock."{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/500525/kid-rock-raps-with-the-devil/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127202414/http://www.mtv.com/news/500525/kid-rock-raps-with-the-devil/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 27, 2018|title=Kid Rock Raps With The Devil|website=MTV|first=Randy|last=Reiss|date=August 18, 1998|access-date=9 July 2018}} It was his most rock-oriented album at the time,{{cite web |title=Kid Rock |url=https://www.biography.com/people/kid-rock-251986 |access-date=9 July 2018 |website=Biography}} and is seen as furthering the rap metal style of The Polyfuze Method,{{cite book |last=Hess |first=Mickey |title=Hip Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of America's Most Wanted Music |year=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-99461-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ishiphopdeadpast00hess_0/page/122 122–123] |chapter=White Rappers |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ishiphopdeadpast00hess_0/page/122 }} and also for shaping Kid Rock's redneck image{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wl0rlx7DoeIC&q=early+mornin+stoned+pimp&pg=PA193|title=Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism|first=Chuck|last=Eddy|date=10 August 2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822350101|access-date=9 July 2018|via=Google Books}} and being the first album of his to explore his Southern rock influences, after "two albums of pure Beastie Boys worship".{{cite web |last=Anthony |first=David |date=August 22, 2018 |title=In 1998, rap-rock and nü-metal really did seem like the future |url=https://www.avclub.com/in-1998-rap-rock-and-nu-metal-really-did-seem-like-the-1828367971 |access-date=2023-05-04 |publisher=The A.V. Club}}

The title track "captured the laid back pimp desperado persona that Rock had finally perfected", according to The Village Voice writer Chaz Kangas.{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2013/06/27/in-defense-of-kid-rock-try-hating-these-classics/|title=In Defense of Kid Rock: Try Hating These Classics|website=Villagevoice.com|access-date=9 July 2018}} The song's lyrics also diss Billy Ray Cyrus. "Where U At Rock?" references philosopher Ayn Rand.{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/kid-rock-politics-musical-evolution-senate-run-7872906|title=Guns, Unions and Globalism: The Evolution of Kid Rock's Musical Populism|website=Billboard.com|access-date=9 July 2018}}

In Chuck Eddy's Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism, the music on Early Morning Stoned Pimp is categorized by musical elements such as "descending symphonic blaxploitation wah-wah", "hardboiled barbeque rib joint boogie drama, soul sister backup", "synth sirens", "Frampton vocoders", "shotgun blasts, [and] spy movie organ". Eddy believes the album exhibits influence from Blowfly, Rudy Ray Moore, Swamp Dogg, Parliament and the dozens.

The lyrics of "Black Chick, White Guy" deal with Kid Rock's ten-year off-and-on relationship with a classmate named Kelley South Russell. Rock fathered a son with Russell; he also raised her son from a previous relationship. He broke up with her after finding out that a third child he was raising was not his. After this, he gained custody of his son, Robert James Ritchie Jr. These events became the inspiration for this song, which discusses them directly. However, Russell denies some of the allegations made against her in the lyrics.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/kid-rocks-cure-for-heartbreak-20071018|title=Kid Rock's Cure for Heartbreak|first=Austin|last=Scaggs|date=18 October 2007|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=9 July 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.theboot.com/2011/04/25/kid-rock-son-junior/|title=Kid Rock Takes Role of Fatherhood Seriously|website=The Boot|access-date=9 July 2018}}

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According to Kid Rock, who distributed the album himself, Early Morning Stoned Pimp sold 14,000 copies.{{cite web|url=http://www.cowboysindians.com/2015/07/kid-rock/|title=Kid Rock – C&I Magazine|date=1 July 2015|website=Cowboysindians.com|access-date=9 July 2018}} The album was not offered for sale when his catalog became available on iTunes.{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2013/01/itunes_to_offer_kid_rocks_enti.html|title=iTunes to offer Kid Rock's entire album catalog from 'Devil Without A Cause' on; you can pre-order it now|website=Mlive.com|access-date=9 July 2018}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/early-mornin-stoned-pimp-mw0000981763|title=Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp – Kid Rock – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=9 July 2018}}

}}

AllMusic, which did not review the album, gave it two and a half out of five stars. The Village Voice writer Chaz Kangas called the title track a "classic", writing, "The reason the track works so well is because Rock’s own love and incorporation of his musical references isn’t rooted in a nostalgia or a 'tribute,' but rather in his actively engaging the elements he finds compelling into a wholly new hodgepodge of his own invention."

1. "Intro" – 0:50
2. "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp" (featuring Tino) – 7:18
3. "Paid" – 5:15
4. "I Wanna Go Back" – 5:14
5. "Live" (featuring Esham) – 2:34
6. "Detroit Thang" (featuring The Howling Diablos) – 6:22
7. "Ya Keep On" – 3:55
8. "Shotgun Blast" – 2:18
9. "Freestyle Rhyme" – 3:57
10. "Classic Rock" – 2:42
11. "My Name Is Rock" – 4:30
12. "Where U at Rock" – 5:08
13. "Krack Rocks" (featuring Uncle Kracker) – 4:09
14. "The Prodigal Son Returns" – 3:16
15. "Black Chick, White Guy" – 7:10
16. "Outro" – 0:38

• Kid Rock – vocals
• Uncle Kracker – turntables
• Andrew Nerha – guitar, drums
• Chris Peters – guitar
• Bobby East – guitar, bass
• Bob Ebeling – drums
• Marlon Young – bass guitar
• Jimmie Bones – piano
• Eddie Harsch – organ
• Thornetta Davis – background vocals

{{Kid Rock}}

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Category:1996 albums

Category:Funk albums by American artists

Category:Kid Rock albums

Category:Midwest hip-hop albums

Category:Rap metal albums

Category:Soul albums by American artists