My first Kid Rock experience was watching him on TV for a live Much Music performance. The throbbing heavy metal chant of “Bawitdaba” played while Kid Rock drove up to the studio in a yellow Mustang convertible! For me, this was on par to seeing James Brown’s cape routine for the first time. The performance was everything rock and roll should be. Outrageous, offensive and in your face. That was my reason to go see him live on a Friday night in the Saddledome. I was expecting a spectacle and I was not disappointed (lots of explosions and fireballs!).

Like most popular artists, Kid Rock borrows from a broad range of sources, most of them are obvious. The origin of Bawitaba is not. It comes from an early rap artist Lovebug Starski (listen at 1:11 and 2:09). Not sure if Lovebug Starski got any royalties for his few scat syllables but his “baba” lines are reminiscent of The Chips “Rubber Biscuit”.