Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast

Kid Rock began his professional music career as a member of the hip hop music group the Beast Crew in the late 1980s. During this time, Kid Rock met rapper D-Nice, which led to Kid Rock opening at local shows for Boogie Down Productions.{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/kid-rock-251986|title=Kid Rock|website=Biography.com}} During this time, Kid Rock began his professional association with producer Mike E. Clark, who was initially skeptical of the idea of a white rapper, but was impressed by Kid Rock's performance; Kid Rock had prepared his own beats and used his own turntables to demonstrate his skills for Clark.{{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}} In 1988, Clark produced a series of demos with Kid Rock, which led to offers from six major record labels, including Atlantic and CBS Records.{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist |id=kid-rock-p15074/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Kid Rock – Biography|last=Huey|first=Jeff |website=AllMusic |access-date=2010-11-30}} With the help of D-Nice, Kid Rock signed with Jive Records at the age of 17, releasing his debut studio album, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast in 1990, which featured production by D-Nice and Too Short.{{cite web|url=http://www.cowboysindians.com/2015/07/kid-rock/|title=Kid Rock - C&I Magazine|website=Cowboysindians.com|access-date=9 July 2018|date=July 1, 2015}} According to Kid Rock, the contract with Jive resulted in animosity from fellow rapper Vanilla Ice, who felt that he should have been signed.

In contrast to Kid Rock's later albums, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast features a straightforward hip hop sound.{{cite web |last=Reiss |first=Randy |date=August 18, 1998 |title=Kid Rock Raps With The Devil |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/500525/kid-rock-raps-with-the-devil/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127202414/http://www.mtv.com/news/500525/kid-rock-raps-with-the-devil/ |archive-date=January 27, 2018 |access-date=9 July 2018 |website=MTV}} While the album primarily reflects what reviewers perceived as a strong Beastie Boys influence, "Grits Sandwiches nevertheless contains a few elements of the Bob Seger-loving, turntable-scratching dirt-ass pimp character who would later emerge as the American Bad Ass", according to Allmusic's Johnny Loftus. Other influences claimed by reviewers on the album's music include LL Cool J and Rob Base. "With a One Two" samples the Doobie Brothers' "China Grove", predicting Kid Rock's later shift to rap rock.

To promote the album, Kid Rock toured nationally with Ice Cube, D-Nice, Yo-Yo and Too Short; Detroit artist James "the Blackman" Harris was Kid Rock's DJ on this tour.{{Cite web |url=http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7099 |title=Metro Times - Music: Champ's town |access-date=2012-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102071445/http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7099 |archive-date=2009-01-02 |url-status=dead }} During instore promotions for the album, Kid Rock met and developed a friendship with local rapper Eminem, who frequently challenged Kid Rock to rap battles. In May 1991, the Detroit Free Press reported that the album had become a local hit in Detroit record stores and clubs, with "Wax the Booty" receiving heavy radio requests after midnight.{{cite news |last=Graff |first=Gary |date=1991-05-24 |title=Kid Rock's raps has Detroit dance floors hopping |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100398079/ |work=The Detroit Free Press |page=5D |access-date=2025-03-07}} Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast eventually sold over 100,000 copies, signaling national success for the Kid Rock;{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank/Content?oid=2259295|title=Laughing all the way to the bank|website=Orlando Weekly|access-date=9 July 2018}} the album's success made Kid Rock one of the two biggest rap stars in Detroit in 1991, along with local independent rapper Esham.{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=Joseph |author-link=Violent J|last2=Echlin |first2=Hobey |editor=Nathan Fostey |title=ICP: Behind the Paint |url=https://archive.org/details/icpbehindpaint00viol |url-access=registration |date=August 2003 |edition=second |publisher=Psychopathic Records |location=Royal Oak, Michigan |isbn=0-9741846-0-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/icpbehindpaint00viol/page/164 164–167] |chapter=Paying Dues }}{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=Joseph |author-link=Violent J |last2=Echlin |first2=Hobey |editor=Nathan Fostey |title=ICP: Behind the Paint |url=https://archive.org/details/icpbehindpaint00viol |url-access=registration |edition=second |publisher=Psychopathic Records |location=Royal Oak, Michigan |isbn=0-9741846-0-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/icpbehindpaint00viol/page/174 174–189] |chapter=The Dark Carnival|date=August 2003 }}

Despite the album's commercial success, Kid Rock felt it was underpromoted by Jive Records, citing its lack of music videos due to the "unprintable" lyrics on every song. The lead single, "Yo-Da-Lin in the Valley", which was about oral sex, proved to be controversial when WSUC-FM, a college radio station, was fined $23,700 by the FCC for playing it.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/kid-rock/biography|title=Kid Rock Biography|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2017-10-28}} Ultimately, unfavorable comparisons to Vanilla Ice led to Jive dropping Kid Rock, according to Mike E. Clark.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/grits-sandwiches-for-breakfast-mw0000310716|title=Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast - Kid Rock|website=AllMusic|last=Loftus|first=Johnny|access-date=2017-10-28}}

| rev2 = Robert Christgau

| rev2score = {{rating-Christgau|dud}}{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert |url=http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=746&name=Kid+Rock|title=Robert Christgau: CG: Kid Rock|publisher=Robert Christgau|date=2017-10-28}}

| rev3 = Rolling Stone

| rev3score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/kid-rock/albumguide|title=Kid Rock: Album Guide|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=2017-10-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126073430/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/kid-rock/albumguide|archive-date=2011-11-26}}

| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Charles R.|author-link=Charles R. Cross|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|chapter=Kid Rock|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/450 450]}}

}}

In February 1991, Edward Hill of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that the album "insultingly exploits everyday tenants of black life" and that it was "amazing that other rappers will tolerate this stupid a parody of their art form." Hill also derided the album's press release about Rock's background in Detroit, characterizing it as similar to the "pack of lies Vanilla Ice fed to the press before his middle class roots were exposed."{{cite news |last=Edward |first=Hill |date=1991-02-01 |title=Kid Rock Guilty of Bad Rap |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1070297030/ |work=The Plain Dealer |page=36 |access-date=2025-03-07}} The Grand Rapids Press singled out "New York Is Not My Home" and "Abdul Jabar Cut" as showing potential, but disliked the record's exaggerated profanity and misogyny, calling it a "sad example of the what kind of doors 2 Live Crew" had opened, and gave the album 1.5 stars out of 4.{{cite news |last=Gonzalez |first=John D. |date=1991-02-20 |title=The Mellowing of a No-Longer-Young Man |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1123231473/ |work=The Grand Rapids Press |page=D4 |access-date=2025-03-07}}

Retrospective reviews have also looked unfavorably upon the album, with Rolling Stone listing it as one of "20 terrible debut albums by great artists"{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-terrible-debut-albums-by-great-artists-20151118/kid-rock-grits-sandwiches-for-breakfast-1990-20151116|title=20 Terrible Debut Albums by Great Artists|date=18 November 2015|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=9 July 2018}} and gave it two and a half out of five stars in its album guide. AllMusic's Johnny Loftus wrote that "despite Kid's distinct, hard-edged flow and references to the building blocks that would later make his career, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast is a mostly laughable recording". Robert Christgau gave the album a "dud" rating. However, the album's music has also received praise from The Village Voice, which called the song "Wax the Booty" a "classic" in an article by Chaz Kangas, who called the track "smooth and sinister" and "a worthwhile tale of fornication from the era where sex in storytelling was king."{{cite news |last=Kangas |first=Chaz |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|newspaper=The Village Voice|access-date=9 July 2018}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing =

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Yo-Da-Lin in the Valley

| length1 = 4:18

| extra1 = {{hlist|Kid Rock|the Blackman (co.)|Mike E. Clark (co.)}}

| title2 = Genuine Article

| length2 = 4:42

| extra2 = Kid Rock

| title3 = Cramp Ya Style

| length3 = 4:19

| extra3 = Kid Rock

| title4 = New York's Not My Home

| length4 = 4:27

| extra4 = Kid Rock

| title5 = Super Rhyme Maker

| length5 = 3:37

| extra5 = Too Short

| title6 = With a One-Two

| length6 = 3:38

| extra6 = Kid Rock

| title7 = Wax the Booty

| length7 = 5:20

| extra7 = Too Short

| title8 = Pimp of the Nation

| length8 = 5:10

| extra8 = The Dice Sound

| title9 = Abdul Jabar Cut

| length9 = 4:29

| extra9 = Kid Rock

| title10 = Step in Stride

| length10 = 3:24

| extra10 = Kid Rock

| title11 = The Upside

| note11 = featuring Roz Davis

| length11 = 5:06

| extra11 = The Dice Sound

| title12 = Style of X-Pression

| length12 = 4:20

| extra12 = Kid Rock

| title13 = Trippin' Over a Rock

| length13 = 3:11

| extra13 = Kid Rock

| total_length = 58:11

}}

{{div col}}

• Robert James Ritchie – Main Artist, Vocals, Producer (tracks: 1–4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Mixing (tracks: 1–2, 4–13)
• Roz Davis – Vocals (track 11)
• Doug E. Doug – Talking (track 9)
• Patricia Halligan – Guitar (tracks: 4, 6, 9)
• David Bright – Keyboards (track 11)
• Keenan Foster – Keyboards programming (track 7)
• Joe Mendelson – Programming (track 3)
• Todd Anthony Shaw – Producer (tracks: 5, 7)
• The Dice Sound – Producer (tracks: 8, 11)
• The Blackman – Co-Producer (track 1)
• Mike E. Clark – Co-Producer (track 1)
• Barbera Aimes – Mixing (tracks: 1, 8, 13), Engineering
• Walter C. Griggs – Mixing (track 2)
• Derrick Jones – Mixing (tracks: 3, 12)
• Dwayne Sumal – Mixing (track 11), Engineering
• Al Eaton – Engineering
• Anthony Saunders – Engineering
• Chris Floberg – Engineering
• Eric Gast – Engineering
• Sherman Foote – Engineering
• Tim Latham – Engineering
• Tom Vercillo – Engineering
• Tom Coyne – Mastering
• Todd James – Artwork
• Michael Benabib – Photography

{{div col end}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Kid-Rock-Grits-Sandwiches-For-Breakfast/master/146000|title=Kid Rock – Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast|website=at Discogs|language=en}}

{{Kid Rock}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast}}

Category:Kid Rock albums

Category:1990 debut albums

Category:RCA Records albums

Category:Jive Records albums

Category:Midwest hip-hop albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike E. Clark

Category:Albums produced by Too Short