Synopsis

Kid Rock opens the video at a roadside telephone booth, announcing his plan to head west and chase a larger-than-life version of the American dream. He then takes to the highway in a black semi truck, joined by Joe C., while the story develops into a comic road adventure involving truck stops, money, women, gambling, and a showdown with Gary Coleman. Performance scenes of Rock and his crew are woven through the exaggerated journey, matching the song's swaggering blend of country imagery and rap-rock attitude.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video features Joe C. as Kid Rock's sidekick and Gary Coleman in a comic opposing role.

• Its trucker imagery, roadside action, and broad chase humor play like a loose salute to the road-movie tradition of *Smokey and the Bandit*.

• "Cowboy" was released from *Devil Without a Cause* in 1999 and helped establish Kid Rock's crossover identity by combining hip-hop, country, Southern rock, and hard rock.

• The video received two nominations at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Male Video and Best Rock Video.

• The song's visual and lyrical exaggeration helped make "Cowboy" one of the early high-profile examples associated with country rap's later mainstream development.

• Country comedy artist Cledus T. Judd later recorded "Plowboy," a parody of "Cowboy."