Kid Rock is heading straight for the pulpit. The Detroit rocker, born Robert James Ritchie, has announced Halfway to Jesus, a 17-track Christian rock album due Oct. 17, and he is bringing a surprise collaborator along for the ride: Eminem.
The first single is “James 1:17 (Jesus Is King),” a Bob Seger-coded gospel rock track that opens with Rock begging forgiveness for his past blasphemy. He sings about wandering through the ages and refusing to compromise, and the video shows him bathed in holy light before being raptured up to heaven and dropped back on stage in his Tupac T-shirt, still fronting a rock band with a gospel choir.
The Cover Art
The album’s cover leaves little to interpret. It shows Rock halfway up a mountain, literally halfway to reaching a glowing crucifix, with the devil hot on his heels. The image is a visual statement: Rock is climbing toward salvation, pursued by the darkness he left behind.
In an X video promoting the album, Rock solemnly recited the song’s lyrics about redemption and salvation, intoning, “I have wandered through the ages / And flipped through all your pages / Every stage of life I’ve gone through / I’ve refused to compromise.”
Eminem Joins the Choir
Eminem appears on “7 Sins,” and according to Complex, which said it obtained a sneak peek at the album’s forward, the team-up is about finding common ground in a divided nation. “I’m proud of the guests who joined me, especially my old friend Eminem,” Rock reportedly writes. “His verse speaks to something we’ve talked about and that really needs to be heard: we differ politically and on other things, but we’ve stayed friends through it all. We hope that sets an example for people who’ve lost friends or stopped talking to family because they think differently.”
Rock and Eminem have worked together before, though not always on sacred ground. They teamed up on the not-so-holy “F—k Off” from Rock’s 1998 studio album Devil Without a Cause, and on the remix to Trick-Trick’s 2013 “From Tha D.” Rock also made a cameo in Eminem’s 2013 “Berzerk” video.
The Track List
The album runs 17 tracks, and the titles tell the story:
- “James 1:17 (Jesus Is King)” — the gospel rock opener
- “Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus”
- “Water Into Wine”
- “Me and Jesus”
- “God Is Good”
- “High Road”
- “7 Sins” — the Eminem collaboration
- “Halfway to Jesus” — the title track, featuring Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox and Jimmie Allen
- The final stretch, including what appears to be a cover of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”
Rock’s Spiritual Journey
Rock explained the pivot to Fox & Friends in August. “It’s kind of this spiritual journey I’ve been on and I’ve had a calling through James 1:17,” he said. “My middle name being James and 1/17 my birthday. I looked up that passage a while back and it’s all good things basically come from God.”
He admitted he hasn’t talked about his faith much in the past. “Growing up Catholic and going to Catholic church, I was always like, ‘I have to confess this is boring. This music’s terrible,’ ” he said. “So I’d go to Baptist churches and non-denominals just looking for the music that I wanted to hear and there’s some good stuff, but it was always a little bit of this dark place. So I decided to write the songs that I kind of wanted to celebrate Jesus and my faith with, which are rock and roll, country, hip-hop.”
What the Video Shows
The “James 1:17 (Jesus Is King)” video is the centerpiece of the announcement. It shows Rock ascending to heaven in a holy light, only to be deposited back on stage in his Tupac T-shirt, still fronting a rock band with a gospel choir. The contrast is classic Rock: one moment he is soaring toward the divine, the next he is back in his familiar outlaw gear.
The album’s release date is Oct. 17. The video is worth watching for the full effect.
The album’s title, Halfway to Jesus, suggests a journey rather than a destination. Rock is not claiming to have arrived. He is claiming to be moving in the right direction, pursued by the devil all the way.
The track list reads like a rock concert with a sermon thrown in. “Water Into Wine” and “Me and Jesus” sound like they could be ballads. The final stretch closes with what appears to be a cover of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
Either way, it will be a fascinating listen. The video is worth watching for the full effect.
Comparison of the Two Collaborations
| Feature | “F—k Off” (Devil Without a Cause) | “7 Sins” |
|---|---|---|
| Artist | Eminem | Eminem |
| Album | Rock’s fourth studio album | Halfway to Jesus |
| Date | 1998 | Now |
The comparison shows that Rock and Eminem have worked together across decades and genres, but this time the message is different.
See the video the story is built around at Billboard.
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