Devil Without a Cause is the fourth studio album by American rapper Kid Rock. Released on August 18, 1998, the album saw Kid Rock continuing to develop his sound, moving away from the predominantly hip hop sound of his previous albums to a largely rap rock/metal, hard rock, and nu metal sound, and marked the finalization of his stage persona as a 'redneck pimp'. Additionally, the song "Cowboy" is seen as being instrumental in the development of the fusion genre country rap. Devil Without a Cause was a major commercial success. Spurred by the popularity of the single "Bawitdaba", the album sold 15 million copies, and was certified diamond. The album also received critical acclaim for its genre-mixing sound. Background In 1997, Jason Flom, head of Lava Records, attended one of Kid Rock's performances, and met with Kid Rock, who later gave him a demo containing the songs "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "I Got One for Ya", which led to Kid Rock signing with Atlantic Records. As part of his recording deal, Kid Rock received $150,000 from the label. By this time, Kid Rock had fully developed his pimp redneck stage persona and rap metal musical style and wanted to make a "redneck, shit-kicking rock 'n' roll rap" album. Recording The album was recorded at the White Room in Detroit and mixed at the Mix Room in Los Angeles. In addition to the newly written songs, the band also re-recorded some of Kid Rock's older songs, including "I Am the Bullgod" from Kid Rock's earlier EP Fire It Up and "Black Chick, White Guy" from the album Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp. During the recording sessions, Eminem was mixing The Slim Shady LP at the same studio, and, being friends with Kid Rock, asked him to record scratching for the song "My Fault." In return, Eminem delivered a guest rap verse on Kid's song "Fuck Off." In a 1999 interview with Spin Magazine, Eminem told the interviewer that he did coke for the first and last time ever while writing and recording his verse with Kid. According to Eminem, Kid was in "full party mode with tons of different drugs just laid out near the studio mixing board. There were Playboy playmates just passed out naked with coke on their nose. It was overwhelming. I never touched that shit again." Composition Style The music on Devil Without a Cause is