Rock On
Bobby [Kid Rock] was a perfect Detroiter of the Year. He’s such an incredible person. Beyond his image, he’s really an unsung hero. Great philanthropist. Great father. Great thinker.
The whole issue [July 2009] was fantastic. I especially liked the “hot stuff.” Affordable. Hip. Local. Fun. Definitely one of the best I’ve seen.
— Danialle Karmanos, West Bloomfield Township (wife of past Detroiter of the Year Peter Karmanos)
Rock Bottom
Choosing Kid Rock as Detroiter of the Year [July 2009] is offensive and misleading. In the article, there was no evidence as to how Kid Rock does anything positive for the City of Detroit. It is my understanding that Kid Rock bought the Made In Detroit clothing brand … closed down all production of the brand in Detroit and now produces it in northern Oakland County. In the article, Kid Rock’s brewing company was given credit, but it also mentioned that the brewing company is located in Webberville, which isn’t even a metro Detroit community. Kid Rock glorifies himself as a “Son of Detroit,” but it’s commonly known that he grew up wealthy on a farm in Romeo. Kid Rock grew up in the suburbs and still lives in the suburbs; he provides no positive influence to the people of Detroit, or to any of his fans. His lyrics are often destructive and glorify substance abuse.
I view this error as lazy journalism. It seems that Hour Detroit had no idea what to do, so a celebrity was slapped on the cover. I don’t understand why an actual citizen of Detroit was not awarded status as Detroiter of the Year. There are plenty of local heroes that deserve this title. By choosing Kid Rock, all Hour Detroit did was give an already-famous person more undeserved fame and nothing has progressed due to that.
— Jered Dean, Detroit
Editor’s note: Past Detroiters of the Year have included suburbanites and city dwellers. What they have in common is the work they do for the benefit of our greater community. Kid Rock created a music scholarship for Wayne State University (something mentioned in our story). Every ticket sold for his two concerts last summer at Comerica Park (in Detroit and around the country) generated 50 cents for Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to U.S. veterans returning home to their families. As you may have heard, he also recently stepped up to assist the Arts, Beats & Eats Festival (in Pontiac).
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