I had such a long and personal post written about Kid Rock and this time period of the late 90s, but I got a Windows forced restart and it killed it.

This is an awesome article and I feel it captures the attitude of a lot of people we currently love to hate. My life was on a very similar trajectory back at that point of time, but while I got off of it, Rock leaned into it and continues to do so, despite the hurt and confusion it gives his friends and former friends. I think everyone could learn something important from reading this story with an open mind.

Even if you hate read it, you will see someone who probably really hates their life despite having talent and success and is welcomed with open arms by a number of US presidents. I feel Rock was someone that was “proto-woke” in the late 90s and instead of embracing that, he bought into his own bit once he got famous and sold himself out to keep what he percieved as love.

The last third of the article where Rock is drunk and struggles to keep the mask on was difficult to not empathize with. He’s challenging the journalist to a fistfight while begging him to not leave, saying he doesn’t care what anyone thinks while asking if the author thinks any of this empire of his is actually cool.

Thinking about this while my computer erased everything I wrote and trying to think of a quicker way to get my point across, this really feels like the classic Simpsons where Marge paints the weak, brittle Mr Burns in the shower and makes him look at his real self. As someone who really felt support for the things Rock used to do but now can’t stand to see his face or hear his voice, this is a great article and a reminder that assholes are people too, and how many of us could have walked similar paths if we didn’t make some of the choices we did.

The views of his friends, current and former, are the way I feel about a lot of people I’ve known who have walked a path through life similar to the one he chose, and it makes me sad knowing I know people that truly are good people deep down, that feel they get something more out of playing a hateful and hurtful role. And at numerous point in the article, you see him acknowledge he is what he hates, but doesn’t know anything else at this point.

So glad you shared this and that I came across it. Thank you so much!