Although Uncle Kracker, aka Matthew Shafer, was an essential part of Kid Rock’s Twisted Brown Trucker backing music group as a DJ during the 1990s, by the dawn of the 21st century, he had the courage and momentum to begin a moderately successful solo career as an artist himself. Released on 30 May 2000, Kid Rock largely handled the production and some of the creative input behind this album. Upon its release, it went multi-platinum and was deemed a commercial success. With 11 tracks and running just under 45 minutes in length, this album was recorded on the road on a tour bus and was released on Atlantic Records, with two single releases from the album that charted well. This album fuses Rock, Rap, and Country influences into a smorgasbord of sound. The album of course features Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock (guitars, electronics and vocals) along with Paradime (vocals on the song Heaven), James Montgomery (harmonica), Michael Bradford (bass guitar, guitars, electronics and vocals), James Bones (keyboards and backing vocals), Stefanie Eulinberg (drums), Jason Krause (guitar), Kenny Olsen (guitar) and Lynn Owsley (pedal steel guitar). Let’s take a listen and see what’s cracking.

1. Intro launches into it with the sound of traffic, and the sound of Kid Rock’s Only God Knows Why in the very distant background. It has a good conversation between Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker about the nature of making music. Very cool, and something worth hearing. An awesome introduction, and a silly, immoral lesson of the artists who make music in the music industry. It fades out at the end.

2. Better Days continues on with some organ, harmonica and some steady and awesome beats. It launches into a very good song, informed by the Country Music of the past, with a pseudo-Rap feel to it all. Kid Rock fans and other similar listeners in particular will dig this song. Uncle Kracker makes for a better take musically than others who were popular in the year 2000. A smooth, sweet and top listen which is perfect to play in an open-top car, smoking a cigarette whilst driving around the neighbourhood. A very beautiful and Poptastic tune about looking forward to the future with positivity and hope in amongst despair. The second half has an awesome harmonica solo and a variety of awesome, chilled and groovy samples to match. The singing throughout is sweet, too. All in all, an awesome and driven tune that kicks the proverbial. A fantastic and very underrated tune, this is proof that in the 21st century, there are still artists making music who have relevance. The guitar solo at the end is fantastic. A nice, groovy and awesome tune to listen to. A nice way to spend five minutes of your life. It ends with organs.

3. What ‘Chu Lookin’ At? begins with some piano, reversed drum beats and launches into a pleasantly enjoyable tune. Uncle Kracker sings, and this is a fantastic listening experience about bringing about fantastic and definitely consistent music, which Uncle Kracker does. This is a kind of music for those of you who loved Kid Rock but wish to hear a type of newer music that changes lives. A fantastic mixture of sounds, samples and singing that is absolutely fantastic. Better than expected, and a life-affirming tune to hear. This is exactly what you need to play with your friends whilst drinking and having a good time. A drum section leads into a groovy guitar riff, launching into a fantastic and rocking guitar solo section at hand. This expertly crafted DJ section with beats, tempo changes, ripping vocals and various music approaches that are unique is brilliant. An absolutely awesome tune to listen to, this song sounds beautiful, uplifting and powerful throughout. Kid Rock’s collaboration effort on this song is very welcome as well. The piano playing, guitars and multitude of sounds are really great. Awesome from start to finish. A must listen.

4. Follow Me is the hit single of this album, beginning with a punchy acoustic guitar and launching into a sweet and melodic song that sounds awesome, catchy and sweet throughout. This charted high globally, and one can instantly hear why. This is an awesome tune to listen to, particularly if you are in your 20s, and it is a chilled track for those who love house parties to crank up nicely. Uncle Kracker, true to his name, is an awesome musician, and he puts a fantastically solid effort with a sing-along chorus on this tune. This is a song of love and devotion for a partner, and Uncle Kracker delivers this music in the best manner possible. A truly great slice of Pop Music that doesn’t deviate from the main album. An awesome listen from start to finish. Very solidly good.

5. Heaven (feat. Kid Rock & Paradime) is next, beginning with some awesome Fender Telecaster-style guitar parts, and sounds majestic. The trio sing nicely on this tune, and this is a catchy, awesome and musically wonderful tune. Paradime’s rapping part is actually sweet to hear, and these three men deliver a fantastic music statement that sounds fresh and gold throughout. Uncle Kracker is the master of music when it comes to a strange but workable fusion of Kid Rock-based sounds, samples and genres throughout. An absolute winner of a tune, and certainly something that one can blast to surprise Gen Z to blow their minds. This is music about the Motor City capital, Detroit, and relating it to heaven itself. An uplifting and punchy tune to listen to. This music oozes cool with attitude galore. Most musicians do not come close at all. This tune concludes nicely with the chorus and a variety of sonically precise sounds and samples. Brilliant.

6. Steaks ‘N Shrimp begins with some unusual electronics and DJ scratching, launching into a divine and sweet tune with some glorious sounds and samples. One can easily hear the major influence of Kid Rock throughout this song. An absolutely awesome and powerful tune to listen to, this has some punching rapping and awesome rhymes to match it all. By the way, nothing beats good steaks and shrimp at a barbecue steak house. In any case, this tune is a punchy, direct and straightforward tune that has attitude galore. There are awesome samples and structural music changes throughout. A fantastic listen, once again, and this is still awesome and musically relevant to this day. This showcases the fact that Uncle Kracker’s mixture of DJ editing, Rap, Rock and some Country Music influences is still very relevant to this day. A very awesome and powerful listening experience to listen to throughout. A top-notch Rap tune that holds up well to this very day. Wonderful. It ends with some neat DJ scratching.

7. Who’s Your Uncle? begins with some impressive and bombastic drum loops, fantastic guitars, and a very Kid Rock-style tune that emerges. A fantastic and life-affirming track that has style, attitude and power throughout. This music is a seriously fantastic and enjoyable tune about life on the road, and delivering music to the people. There are various music breakdowns and sonic samples to match the beats that will blow your mind. A seriously good and interesting listening experience at hand. Uncle Kracker delivers wonderfully powerful and uniquely structured music on this album. The singing and harmonies are also gloriously good. A top tune, bursting with attitude and fresh sounds galore. This is some of the best sample-based music that you will ever hear. A great game-changer and listening experience throughout. Definitely worth hearing. A winner.

8. Whiskey & Water begins with a keyboard loop, and launches into a sweet tune with harmonica being played. Uncle Kracker is a definite legend on this tune. This is again, a good listen. It has some awesome rapping with some Country Music sounds being sampled and played throughout. The guitar playing, DJ-inspired editing and songcraft here are in a category of their own, and it sounds really brilliant throughout. An awesome tune to listen to, although Kid Rock’s influence is definitely here on this. Even so, Uncle Kracker delivers a solid tune that is certainly worth repeat listens. For those of you who live in Texas and love Country Music with a DJ-inspired edge whilst sipping whiskey and smoking Marlboro cigarettes, you will love this album. A broad and detailed tune that sounds absolutely top. A pleasant tune to hear, even if this wasn’t a hit single at the time. It ends with a glorious harmonica solo that sounds absolutely fantastic, and this continues on to its equally fantastic conclusion, stopping briefly before having a single-note harmonica conclusion. Awesome.

9. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah begins with some simple drum machine beats, guitar loops and odd sounds. This tune quickly gets grooving away nicely and has some clever and awesome rapping throughout. This is more like a Rap-influenced side of Kid Rock-based music that fans of some of his music will appreciate. The chorus is sweet and uplifting throughout, and this tune has a great array of imaginative and rocking samples and sounds. Uncle Kracker delivers a fantastic music statement about loving where you live and enjoying life to the full. This is one of the more appreciable songs from this album, with guitars and other delicious sounds galore. Absolutely top to listen to, this music is of a very consistent and magical nature. The chorus is easily sing-along and enjoyable to hear. This music is of a unique and gloriously enjoyable nature. Designed for repeat listens and to be enjoyed to the full. To finish up, there are a multitude of sweet guitar sounds and other playing to match it all. Top-notch music from start to finish. It fades out nicely.

10. Aces & 8’s is a reference to cards. It begins with some beats and trippy reverberated guitars, with the sound of a cigarette lighter being lit. This eventually launches into a song about being drunk and stupid in a snooker lounge. It is very difficult to know exactly what this is supposed to be about, but even so, this is a solidly good tune to hear all the same. All the same, this is a very solidly good listen, even if the quality of this album is sometimes a bit variable. No big deal, this still sounds very good. The sounds, samples and rapping throughout are all really sweet and awesome to listen to. This is obviously a bit of a rant against someone who isn’t worth their life, and this is a strange listen throughout. Good, even if it isn’t the best song from this album. It ends with some straightforward drum machine beats.

11. You Can’t Take Me is the final tune on this album, with some clanging guitar, organ and sweet singing throughout. An extraordinarily enjoyable and sweet tune to finish off an underrated album that sounds enjoyably relaxing. Another gem of a listen, and this sums up the awesome listening experience beforehand. Uncle Kracker certainly knows how to mix, match and create a great sounding set of tunes at hand. This never lets up in terms of sound and sensibility from this album. The bongo beats in the second half, along with the organ, are both fantastic. This continues on nicely to conclude this underrated album. A genuinely good finish to an album that impresses the listener. It wraps up with some drumbeats.

Uncle Kracker, with Kid Rock’s help, achieved a major music milestone on this album release. He delivers a genuinely great music statement with twists, turns and sounds to make you fall in love with music again. His combination of Rock, Rap, DJ sounds, and intelligent samples proves that his day had come. This is not to be underestimated. Should you listen to this album? If you love Country meets urban grooves with Rapping, look no further. Fans of more traditional types of music (e.g. Classical or Jazz Music) will want to look away, however.

A stunning and still relevant release today.

9/10