Amid rumors that he’s running for Senate, Michigan’s own Kid Rock released two loud and defiant new songs Thursday at midnight ET. The rock star and President Donald Trump supporter promised as much in a densely worded Facebook post Thursday afternoon.
“Greatest Show on Earth” announces a 2018 tour by the same name. “Po-Dunk” celebrates rural, middle-class America with a tailgate-ready chorus. The music video features guns, rifles, and women in bikinis holding them.
So… he’s not running for Senate? At press time, America knows two things: The artist born Bob Ritchie is rocking on behalf of tax-paying Americans, and his “fuck tank” is on empty. (He doesn’t give any fucks about what you think of him.)
As Rolling Stone points out, Kid Rock’s Senate website links to merchandise from the Warner Bros. store. It seems unlikely that Kid Rock will gig while also running for Senate—the retrospective video has all the makings of a greatest hits tour—though he compared the venture to publishing a book on the eve of a major campaign, a move many aspiring politicians make.
But if the 47-year-old is making a dash to D.C., he’s doing it without compromising. You won’t find somber ballads or an inspirational move to the center on either new song. Both feature ripping guitar solos, lyrics about living in sin like “Bible by the bed, and a bottle sittin’ pretty,” and Rock’s signature rap-singing.
There’s a populist edge here: The “Po-Dunk” video is a love letter to the rural Michigan counties Kid Rock would need to win over at the ballot. It plays to class, and is inclusive when it comes to race. Kid Rock is even shown in a suit, taking pictures with African-American well-wishers. This is the America I know and fight for, Rock seems to suggest. It’s also the one those corporate shills in Washington aren’t serious about helping.
In a move built for right-wing ridicule, the high-and-mighty New Yorker called this potential campaign a “terrifying new normal.” Whatever your politics, Kid Rock just oversaw a masterful spin cycle. He may be a senator yet.
