In 1988, Clark produced a series of demos with Kid Rock and that eventually led to offers from six major record labels, including Atlantic and CBS Records. In 1989, Kid Rock became a shareholder in an independent record label that was formed by Alvin Williams and Earl Blunt of EB-Bran Productions, called "Top Dog" Records. Later, that investment would become a 25% ownership stake. With the help of D-Nice, Kid Rock signed with Jive Records at the age of 17, releasing his debut studio album, "Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast" in 1990. According to Kid Rock, the contract with Jive resulted in animosity from fellow rapper Vanilla Ice, who Kid Rock claimed felt that he should have been signed with Jive instead of Kid Rock. The album made Kid Rock one of the two biggest rap stars in Detroit in 1990, along with local independent rapper Esham. To promote the album, Kid Rock toured nationally with Ice Cube, D-Nice, Yo-Yos and Too Short; Detroit artist Champtown served as Kid Rock's DJ on this tour. During instore promotions for the album, Kid Rock met and developed a friendship with local rapper Eminem, who frequently challenged Kid Rock to rap battles. Ultimately, unfavorable comparisons to Vanilla Ice led to Jive dropping Kid Rock, according to Mike E. Clark. In 1992, Kid Rock signed with local independent record label Continuum. Around this time, Kid Rock met local hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse through Mike E. Clark, who was producing the duo. While ICP member Violent J disliked Kid Rock's music, he wanted the rapper to appear on ICP's debut album, "Carnival of Carnage", believing the appearance would gain ICP notice, since Kid Rock was a nationally successful artist. Noting that local rapper Esham was paid $500 to appear on ICP's album, Violent J claims that Kid Rock demanded $600 to record his guest appearance, alleging that Esham and Kid Rock had a feud over who was the bigger rapper. Kid Rock showed up to record the song "Is That You?" intoxicated, but re-recorded his vocals and record scratching the following day. In 1993, Kid Rock recorded his second studio album, "The Polyfuze Method", with producer Mike E. Clark, who worked with Kid Rock to help give the album more of a rock-oriented sound than his debut. Kid Rock also began releasing his "Bootleg" cassette series to keep local interest in his music.