Harman Patil (Editor)

American Bad Ass

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Released
  
April 18, 2000

Length
  
4:32

Recorded
  
1996–2000

Label
  
Atlantic

Genre
  
Nu metal, rap metal, thrash metal

Writer(s)
  
Kid Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich

"American Bad Ass" is a rap metal song by the American musician Kid Rock, released from his 2000 album The History of Rock. "American Bad Ass" uses the instrumental structure of Metallica's "Sad but True." The song was a victory lap for Devil Without a Cause's success.

Contents

  • Kid Rock- vocals
  • Jason Krause- lead guitar
  • Kenny Olsen- guitar
  • Mike Bradford- bass guitar
  • Stephanie Eulinberg- drums
  • Uncle Kracker-turntables

    • Content

    He also gave nods to his musical heroes, in this order: AC/DC, ZZ Top, Bocephus, Beastie Boys, Kings of Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, Limp Bizkit, Korn, The Rolling Stones, David Allan Coe, No Show Jones, Liberace, The Clash, Johnny Cash, and Grandmaster Flash.

    His hometown Detroit is mentioned throughout with different nicknames including City of Truth, Detroit Rock City and Motown.

    In the song, the word "Oklahoma", a reference to the Oklahoma City bombing with the deaths of 154 civilians, eight law enforcement officers, and six military personnel, is edited out, as the record label didn't want to cause offense.

    Music video

    The music video for the single aired on MTV2 upon release, and reached #1 on Canada's MuchMusic Countdown. The song was performed on Saturday Night Live.

    At the beginning, Kid Rock watches TV and then after going to a rapping party, he goes to a concert on a cabriolet, surrounded by bikers. At the middle of the song, Kid Rock's car explodes and the thrash metal party starts to play. At the end of the video, Kid Rock with his band plays at a concert on the stage.

    The video features a cameo appearance by Ron Jeremy.

  • This song was the entrance theme for WWE Superstar The Undertaker for a short time in 2000 under his biker persona. The song's title, "American Bad Ass", eventually became the name of the gimmick under which he won several tag titles and a world title.
  • After the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000, the song was played on the ship's PA system upon leaving the port of Yemen after the national anthem and other patriotic songs were played.
  • The song was also featured in promotional material for the film adaptions of two popular Hasbro franchises. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, in which their TV spot is aptly titled "American Badass" and Battleship.
  • "American Bad Ass" appeared in the TV spot for the film The Gunman.

    • Track listing

    1. "American Bad Ass" (clean album version)
    2. "3 Sheets to the Wind" (Live)
    3. "Cowboy" (Live)

    Parody

    In 2001, the American glam metal band Tuff made a parody of this song, named "American Hair Band".

    References

    American Bad Ass Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA