"Bawitdaba" is a song by American musician

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

from his fourth album ''

Devil Without a Cause ''Devil Without a Cause'' is the fourth studio album by American musician Kid Rock. Released on August 18, 1998, the album saw Kid Rock continuing to develop his sound, and marked the finalization of his stage persona as a 'redneck pimp'. Additio ...

''. It was released as a single in 1999, helping push the success of the album. It has since become one of Kid Rock's most popular songs, receiving critical praise and entering the top 10 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart, as well as on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

Background

"Bawitdaba" has been described as having a

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

rap metal Rap metal is a fusion genre that combines hip hop music, hip hop with heavy metal music, heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, Rapping, rapped vocals and sometimes turntablism, turntables. History O ...

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

sound. Its chorus has been described as a "neo- gregorian drone"; this chorus was derived from

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

chants, such as the refrain from the

Sugar Hill Gang Sugar is the generic name for Sweetness, sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides ...

's "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 rap song that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop trio the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's " King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper ...

". The lyrics of the song are dedicated to "the shots of Jack", "chicks with beepers", as well as "all the crackheads, the critics, the cynics / And all my heroes in the

methadone clinic A methadone clinic is a medical facility where medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are dispensed—historically and most commonly methadone, although buprenorphine is also increasingly prescribed. Medically assisted drug therapy treatment i ...

." On the

demo recording A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

of the song, Kid Rock shouts, "Now get in the pit and try to kill someone!" For the album version, he replaced "kill" with "love." Kid Rock told ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' that he was glad he had changed the lyric, explaining that mosh pits are about coexistence.

Reception

Critics and fans consider "Bawitdaba" to be one of Kid Rock's best songs. In 2009, it was named the 47th best hard rock song of all time by

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

. The song was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Awards in the Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance categories.

Music video

The song's accompanying video gained regular rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

as it grew in popularity. The video opens with numerous clips of backstage touring footage featuring members of

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

, in addition

Fred Durst William Frederick Durst (born Frederick Allen Mayne III; August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has release ...

and Sam Rivers of

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

. The video depicts Kid Rock and his band performing in a

trailer park A trailer park, caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and e ...

with numerous children playing football with Joe C. in the background. As the video progresses, it features shots of Kid Rock driving a large

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

as he is accompanied by numerous women. The video then cuts to the band performing the song's breakdown in a darkened field in front of a large mosh pit.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Bawitdaba" (radio edit) – 3:32 # "My Oedipus Complex" (Father edit) – 3:51 # "My Oedipus Complex" (Son edit) – 4:28 # "Bawitdaba" (enhanced video) UK CD2 # "Bawitdaba" (radio edit) – 3:32 # "

Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

" (album version) – 4:16 # "Prodigal Son" (album version) – 5:41 # "Cowboy" (video) UK CD3 # "Bawitdaba" (radio edit) – 3:32 # " I Am the Bullgod" (album version) – 4:50 # "Paid" (album version) – 4:45 # "I Am the Bullgod" (video) European and Australian CD single # "Bawitdaba" (edit) – 3:32 # "Bawitdaba" (album version) – 4:25 # "I Am the Bullgod" (live, electro-acoustic version) – 5:28

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD1 and ''

'' liner notes. Studios * Recorded at White Room Studios and Temple of the Dog (

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

) * Mixed at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

(London, England) * Mastered at Masterdisk (New York City) Musicians *

– writing (as R. J. Ritchie), vocals, production, mixing, engineering *

Twisted Brown Trucker Twisted Brown Trucker is the Backup band, backing band for American musician Kid Rock. Formed in 1994, the band has contributed to nine of his twelve studio albums, as well as Uncle Kracker's ''Double Wide (album), Double Wide'' album. Histor ...

– additional engineering **

Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker; since 1999, he has recorded as a solo artis ...

– writing (as Matthew Shafer), turntables ** Jason Krause – writing, metal guitar ** Kenny Olson – lead guitar ** Jimmie Bones – keyboards **

Stefanie Eulinberg Twisted Brown Trucker is the backing band for American musician Kid Rock. Formed in 1994, the band has contributed to nine of his twelve studio albums, as well as Uncle Kracker's '' Double Wide'' album. History Formation and establishment ( ...

– drums Other personnel * John Travis – additional production, engineering * David Bottrill – mixing * Al Sutton – engineering * Derek Matuja – additional engineering *

Tony Dawsey Tony Dawsey is an American mastering engineer at Masterdisk in New York City. He has been active since 1980.1998 songs 1999 singles Atlantic Records singles Kid Rock songs Lava Records singles Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Nu metal songs Rap metal songs Songs written by Kid Rock Songs written by Uncle Kracker