DETROIT, MI - It wasn't difficult to spot Robert James Ritchie at Cobo Hall during a hip hop concert back in the early 90s.

This skinny white guy from the suburbs, then with a high-top fade haircut, strolled through the arena in this predominantly black city with a presence.

Some stared, others pointed, and a few laughed as Ritchie's African-American friend and roommate at the time Karen Dumas, a Detroit native, watched the perceived outsider literally face the music.

"All these people, all these black people were looking at him like he was crazy," Dumas recalled laughing. "But he was confident and he was comfortable. He wasn't arrogant; he wasn't condescending.

"That's who he was, and that's what he wanted to do; so we just shoveled on through Cobo."

Ritchie, better known as Kid Rock, hasn't stopped being bold.

Friday night marks the first of eight music industry-defying concerts this month - over 12 days - at DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Each show appears sold out after the entertainer shocked the business by offering $20 tickets and $4 beers at the participating 27 Live Nation-backed venues (34 shows total) that are part of his "Best Night Ever" tour.

Investment in fans

This move is a gamble, concert industry experts claim, because Kid Rock likely set himself up to prevent a big payday.

"Nobody is going to get really rich on this thing," Pollstar Magazine editor-in-chief Gary Bongiovanni said. "Although, I would hope in this day and age you can still make money on a $20 ticket."

Only time will tell how Kid Rock's plan will work, but the risk involved certainly doesn't seem to bother him.

That dude who once had that funny hairdo keeps on moving forward, apparently with no regrets, just like he did in that Cobo crowd.

MLive Detroit's attempts for more than a month to set up an interview with him through Atlantic Records - before his eight DTE shows - were unsuccessful.

Kid Rock, however, has said repeatedly he's simply giving the fans what they want and deserve.

"If this works we're going to play to packed houses of fans who appreciate what we're doing," he said in a statement posted on his website. "If it doesn't, might be a long summer.

"But someone has to go out there and fight these high prices and change things up, and I'm lucky enough that I can afford to take a pay cut."

The giving spirit of a man known as the self-proclaimed 'American Badass' and associated with the early 90s 'Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp' monicker isn't a surprise to those close to him.

Giving spirit, low profile

Dumas is a former spokeswoman for Detroit Mayor Dave Bing who has witnessed Kid Rock's seflessness and gratitude help change lives in the Motor City and give opportunities to its residents that previously weren't available.

Kid Rock said modestly in November during an interview with the CBS show "Sunday Morning" he "probably" has given close to $1 million to charitable causes in the past year.

Dumas wouldn't be surprised if that's a low estimate.

"One time he handed me checks for five or six organizations, and I think the largest check was for $50,000," said Dumas, who lived in the same four-unit house on the east side of Detroit with Kid Rock in the early 90s. "He just said, 'Here, Karen. Can you get these to them?"

"He didn't do it with any fanfare or any press release. He's sincere and realizes he's been blessed."

Kid Rock's philanthropic gestures include a $250,000 donation to add an interactive music lab at the Detroit Historical Museum, an undisclosed sum to keep a day each year of Detroit Gold Cup hydroplane races free and a Made in Detroit Endowed Scholarship at Wayne State University.

Do an internet search and you'll find plenty of other documented and acts of kindness.

An 'unheard of' deal

The Romeo, Mich. native, who rapped on his 2001 song "Cocky" that he's "got more money than Matchbox Twenty," also appears dedicated to helping other musicians achieve their goals.

Metro Detroit songwriters Joe Harry and Mark Miers are likely making money off royalties right this second for a tune they created 10 years ago called "Cocaine and Gin" that Kid Rock used on his latest "Rebel Soul" album.

"It was just a Johnny Cash-ish type of tune," said the 41-year-old Harry, who has been writing songs since he was 12 . "We wrote it and it just kind of sat a long time."

Kid Rock found out about the song through his pal Uncle Kracker, a musician Miers plays keyboard for on tour, and eventually brokered an unconventional deal

He gave the local songwriting duo full credit - instead of offering just upfront money so he could make them go away and capture all the royalties for himself - and it allows Harry and Miers to split profits 50/50.

Kid Rock's message to Miers, a Mount Clemens resident, when he offered the song deal: "Don't worry about it; just pay your taxes."

"It's almost unheard of that he'd be that generous with the publishing," said Harry, a full-time banker from Grosse Pointe Woods who gets royalty checks quarterly. "I didn't expect it; I thought 'Oh, maybe I'll see a couple of bucks."

"I'll give you this much: (the song deal) changed my life - significantly. It's made me a lot more comfortable and made a lot of debts go away."

Kid Rock's unselfish actions appear just one way he's connected with other people in the music industry.

Still 'Yodelin' in Valley'

The fact he takes pride in being from Detroit and the state of Michigan, and hasn't turned his back on rap and hip hop impresses Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse.

Violent J, also from Metro Detroit, recalls watching Kid Rock perform his song "Yodelin' in the Valley," off his 1990 album "Grit Sandwiches for Breakfast," at a Comerica Park concert a few years back.

"I saw that (expletive) on YouTube!," Violent J said laughing, "and I respect him for that. I respect him as a fan, as a hard worker, and as a part of Detroit's history."

Kid Rock's influence on music certainly isn't limited to raunchy raps or the hip hop/rock hybrid style that made his career blow up in the late 90s.

Country is also a genre that's allowed him to grow as an entertainer, break barriers and form unique partnerships, collaborations and friendships.

Ask Staind frontman Aaron Lewis, a performer at Detroit's Downtown Hoedown in June. Lewis credits Kid Rock for helping him on a tour bus in the late 90s rediscover his love for the folksy ballads he grew up with.

"He reintroduced me," said Lewis, referring to Kid Rock playing memorable tunes on the bus from legends like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Johnny Cash and others. "And (the memories) all came rushing back like a flood."

Ridin' in style

Speaking of tour buses, Kid Rock is known to share his fleet with friends who need stylish transportation.

Rapper Tech N9ne rented one of his pal's vehicles in April during his 55-city tour and mentioned excitedly to MLive Detroit that it was full of Detroit-themed decor that made the ride an enjoyable - and comfortable - experience.

"It has Detroit Old English Ds all in the shower and Detroit Ds all in the headboard," Tech N9ne said during an April 23 phone interview. "I'm laying in the bed right now. It's pretty cool."

Tech N9ne, whose real name is Aaron Dontez Yates, hails from Kansas City, Mo. and said he's felt like an honorary Detroiter thanks to Kid Rock hospitality.

"I remember partying at his house with Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings, and I think that actress Tara Reid was there!," Tech N9ne said laughing. "Always a good time!"

Fans shouldn't expect anything less during Kid Rock's DTE Energy Music Theatre shows this month.

Dumas, Kid Rock's longtime friend, still considers him "a little brother" who loves to form bonds with an eclectic mix of people and show the world that he's never lost sight of the area that helped him establish a career.

The music allows Kid Rock to put all the aspects of his personality and beliefs of hard work and loyalty together, Dumas said.

"You'd be hard pressed to name another artists that can weave all the different genres the way he does," she said. "People are listening to country when they don't know they are listening to country; his country fans don't know they are listening to hip hop.

"He blends all these things together, and I think he does with his music what I see him do as a person: he connects people just because of who he is."

Detroit state of mind

At this point, given Kid Rock's body of work, Dumas doesn't expect him to suddenly steer off course and leave Detroit and Michigan behind - regardless of his future earnings and notoriety.

Kid Rock bought a waterfront home in Detroit last year, on the same block as the Manoogian Mansion where Detroit Mayor Dave Bing lives, and appears eager to make even more of an impact in the city.

There's even speculation he could move his recording studio operations in Clarkston to that locale.

Whatever Kid Rock does for Detroit in the future, Dumas knows he'll certainly keep putting his heart into it and reach out to all types of people.

"He didn't come in (to Detroit years ago) and say 'I want to study the black community,' she said. "He's just a good, genuine guy. When people are comfortable with themselves, they're comfortable with those that are different than they are.

"With someone that has the level of success that he has, that usually results in inaccessibility, aloofness and detachment. But to me, its connected him stronger to the community and the people that are around him."