American rapper, singer, and songwriter (born 1969)
Everlast
|
---|
Everlast performing in 2015
|
|
Birth name
| Erik Francis Schrody
|
---|
Also known as
| Whitey Ford
|
---|
Born
| (
1969-08-18
)
August 18, 1969
(age 54)
Long Island
,
New York
, U.S.
[1]
|
---|
Origin
| Los Angeles
,
California
, U.S.
[1]
|
---|
Genres
| |
---|
Occupations
| |
---|
Instruments
|
- Vocals
- guitar
- piano
- turntables
|
---|
Years active
| 1987?present
|
---|
Labels
| |
---|
Formerly of
| |
---|
|
Website
| martyr-inc
.com
|
---|
Musical artist
Erik Francis Schrody
(born August 18, 1969),
[2]
known by his stage
names
Everlast
and
Whitey Ford
is an
American
rapper
,
singer
, and
songwriter
who was the
frontman
for
hip hop
group
House of Pain
. His breakthrough as a
solo
artist
came in
1998
with his
album
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
, which blended
rock
and hip-hop and garnered him his first
Grammy Award
nomination
for the song "
What It's Like
". The album peaked at number 9 on the
Billboard
200
album chart, while the
single
peaked at number 13 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
singles chart. As of 2023, they remain his highest mainstream chart positions for an album and single respectively.
In 2000, Everlast received a
Grammy Award
for
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
with
Latin rock
band
Santana
for "
Put Your Lights On
". From 2006 to 2012, he was also part of the hip hop
supergroup
La Coka Nostra
, which consisted of members of House of Pain and other rappers. In 2008, he was nominated an
Emmy Award
for the main title theme of the TV series
Saving Grace
. He has released eight albums in his solo career, each featuring a blend of hip-hop, rock, blues, folk, and
Americana
. His most recent release is
Whitey Ford's House of Pain
, which came out in 2018.
Formative years
[
edit
]
Everlast went to
Taft High School
in
Los Angeles
at the same
time
Ice Cube
and
N.W.A and the Posse
member
Krazy Dee
were attending. Everlast states about
N.W.A
in an interview with
LA Weekly
:
"I was around when
Straight Outta Compton
was being made. I watched and learned a lot. ... I'm here as a white kid opening up for the likes of
Big Daddy Kane
,
Slick Rick
and N.W.A cause I'm rolling with
Ice-T
. I was just coming up in the game. I opened for them, met them. They were larger than life."
[
This quote needs a citation
]
Career
[
edit
]
Late 1980s?mid 1990s: Early career and group's breakthrough
[
edit
]
Emerging as a member of Ice-T's group Rhyme Syndicate, Everlast's 1990 debut album
Forever Everlasting
was a commercial disappointment.
[3]
Following the album's failure, Everlast teamed up with fellow
Taft High
alums
DJ Lethal
and
Danny Boy
to form the hip-hop trio
House of Pain
.
[3]
The group was signed to
Tommy Boy Records
, and their 1992
self-titled debut album
went multiplatinum, spawning the successful
DJ Muggs
produced single "
Jump Around
".
[3]
Fashioning themselves as rowdy Irish-American hooligans (Lethal is actually
Latvian
-born), they toured with various rap and alternative rock bands such as the
Ramones
,
Beastie Boys
and
Rage Against the Machine
after their breakthrough. They participated together with
Helmet
, along with several other rap acts, on the influential 1993
rock-rap
collaborative
Judgment Night
movie soundtrack (Everlast also played a villain in the film). The group eventually disbanded in 1996, and Everlast once again pursued a solo career.
[3]
1998?2001: Solo breakthrough
[
edit
]
Everlast's 1998 album
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
was both a commercial and critical success
[3]
(selling more than three million copies).
[
citation needed
]
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
was hailed for its blend of rap with acoustic and electric guitars, developed by Everlast together with producers
Dante Ross
and John Gamble.
[
citation needed
]
The album's lead single "
What It's Like
" proved to be his most popular and successful song, although the follow-up single, "
Ends
", also reached the U.S. rock top 10.
Everlast followed up this success by collaborating with
Santana
on the track "
Put Your Lights On
" on Santana's 1999 album
Supernatural
. It charted at No. 118 on the
pop chart
, but did considerably better with rock radio airplay, peaking at No. 8 on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart. "Put Your Lights On" won
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
at the
2000 Grammy Awards
.
Despite the success of
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
and his success with Santana, Everlast's follow-up album,
Eat at Whitey's
(2000), stumbled commercially at first in the United States. However, it was eventually certified gold. The album was also embraced critically, especially by
Rolling Stone
which reviewed the album between "good" and "great" and focused on it as that month's most important release.
Feud with Eminem
[
edit
]
That year, a
feud
erupted between Everlast and
Eminem
. Eminem and Everlast crossed paths before a
concert
in early 1999. Eminem says he did not greet Everlast because he did not recognize him right away, and said Everlast did not acknowledge him. Everlast's version is that he tried to congratulate Eminem on his success, and Eminem blew him off.
Everlast's verse from the
Dilated Peoples
all
star
track "Ear Drums Pop (Remix)" contained a thinly
veiled
reference to Eminem ("Cock my
hammer
,
spit
a
comet like Haley
/I buck a .380 on ones that act
shady
"), and went on to warn "You might catch a beatdown out where I come from" in his recounting of the incident.
[4]
Eminem, in turn, blasted Everlast several times in public and with the song "I Remember (Dedication to Whitey Ford)" released as the B-side to his group
D12
's 12" vinyl single "Shit on You".
Everlast responded with the track "Whitey's Revenge", released only on his official website. While the song contained references to Eminem's strained relationships with his wife and mother, it was "Better run and check your kid for your DNA", again referring to Eminem's daughter, Hailie Jade Mathers, that set Eminem off. The track ends with the spoken words, "I ain't wasting no more time with you man. Fuck that shit, That's it".
[5]
[6]
Eminem and D12 responded with "Quitter", the second half of which is a take off on "
Hit 'Em Up
" by
2Pac
and the
Outlawz
(a diss song mainly aimed at
The Notorious B.I.G.
).
[7]
The track ends with the spoken words, "Fuck him, that's it, I'm done, I promise, I'm done, that's it." It was reported that long-time friends of Eminem, group
Limp Bizkit
, were meant to be featured on "Quitter", but
Fred Durst
canceled at the last moment. Everlast echoed similar sentiment on the status of this feud, stating in various interviews that he felt everything had been said and he would now refrain from further responses. However, following Eminem's disses towards them on "Quitter",
Evidence
of Dilated Peoples responded with the track "Search 4 Bobby Fisher".
In a
TRL
interview, current Limp Bizkit and former House of Pain member
DJ Lethal
made a statement that if Mathers and Schrody were to fight in real life, Everlast would win. This irked Eminem, and an insulting track aimed at both Everlast and Limp Bizkit appeared on D12's mainstream debut,
Devil's Night
, as a hidden track called "Girls".
B-Real
of
Cypress Hill
claimed that Everlast recorded another diss towards Eminem following the release of "Quitter", but it went unreleased due to him deciding to instead quash the feud.
[8]
According to Eminem, their fight has settled since then and there is a mutual respect between Mathers and Schrody.
[9]
Further indicating an end to lyrical hostilities between the two, Eminem seemingly gave a shout out to Everlast on
The Marshall Mathers LP 2
song entitled "Baby".
[10]
2002?present: Subsequent success
[
edit
]
After the sale of the Tommy Boy Records' catalog of master tapes to
Warner Bros. Records
and its metamorphosis to a dance music label in 2002,
[11]
Everlast was without a label, but in 2003 he signed with
Island/Def Jam
. His fourth solo album,
White Trash Beautiful
(2004), was subsequently released after almost a four-year hiatus. Produced by Everlast and Dante Ross and featuring a lead single of the same name,
White Trash Beautiful
was described as an "effective mix of hip-hop trope and bluesy strum."
[12]
In early 2006, Everlast teamed up with his former
House of Pain
mates
DJ Lethal
and
Danny Boy
to join the hip-hop group
La Coka Nostra
. The group first came to be due to the former House of Pain hype man Danny Boy starting the group as a collective with rappers
Slaine
and Big Left (who has since left the group). Soon after the group started
Ill Bill
of a now disbanded
Non Phixion
and Everlast joined the group. Their first known song was "Fuck Tony Montana" which features
B-Real
of
Cypress Hill
and
Sick Jacken
. Due to the popularity of the song online, the group released several more online for free.
In 2007, Everlast was chosen to do the theme song for the TV show
Saving Grace
. The song plays during the show's main title sequence, and was originally released to digital outlets only; however, it was also included on Everlast's fifth solo album,
Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford
. The album was released on September 23, 2008, on Everlast's own record label Martyr Inc, with distribution by Hickory Records/Sony/ATV Music Publishing. (It was revealed through diditleak.co.uk that the album leaked out early on Friday August 29.) A second single and video, "Letter Home From the Garden of Stone", was released for free download from martyr-inc.com in December 2007. The third single, a cover of
Johnny Cash
's "
Folsom Prison Blues
", was released to download on August 19. The music video for "Stone in My Hand" debuted on the Martyr Inc. website on October 28, 2008 making it the fourth video for the album.
[13]
The group's debut album
A Brand You Can Trust
was released on July 14, 2009. The album features guests like
Snoop Dogg
,
B-Real
,
Bun B
,
Immortal Technique
,
Sick Jacken
, and
Q-Unique
.
La Coka Nostra
then joined the likes of
Nas
and
Ill Bill
's brother
Necro
on
Rock the Bells
.
In October 2011, his sixth solo album,
Songs of the Ungrateful Living
, was released through Martyr Inc. in partnership with
EMI
. Produced by Everlast in collaboration with DJ Lethal,
Fredwreck
and
Darius Holbert
, the album featured the lead single "I Get By". Like
Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford
, a number of tracks on
Songs of the Ungrateful Living
contained overtly political and social themes.
Everlast left the group in 2012 in order to attend to his daughter's medical issues.
[14]
In 2013, Everlast and Eminem were featured on a Busta Rhymes track together.
[10]
On August 27, 2013, Everlast's acoustic album
The Life Acoustic
was released via his own record label Martyr Inc. That year, Everlast sued the inflatables company "Jump Around Rentals" for using the phrase "if you want to get down jump around" in their advertising, arguing it belonged to House of Pain.
[15]
[
needs update
]
Starting in 2017, joining with
Divine Styler
and
Sick Jacken
, Everlast released a Warporn mixtape.
[16]
On September 7, 2018, Everlast's seventh studio album
Whitey Ford's House of Pain
was released.
[17]
Personal life
[
edit
]
On the day Schrody finished recording
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
, he experienced a tightening in his chest. It persisted for five hours, prompting his co-producer and friend John Gamble to insist Schrody go to the hospital. Schrody had a torn
aortic valve
, and his heart was essentially "drowning in blood".
[18]
By 1996, Everlast had converted from
Catholicism
to
Islam
.
[19]
In a 2011 interview he stated, "even though I would consider myself still to be Muslim, I don't really. I really kinda reject all organized religion... when a bunch of people get together and are spiritual and they feel good about each other, great things can happen. But when you start enforcing your philosophy and ideals on other people who don’t necessarily share them all, it turns into Palestine and Israel, and all these kinds of things. Ya know? Indians and Pakistanis, ya know?"
[20]
Also in 2015 he said, "To me, Islam is mine. Allah is God of all the worlds, and all mankind and all the Alameen (worlds/universe). Islam is my personal relationship with God. So nobody can put any more pressure on me than I can put on myself. But as far as the mosque where I pray, I have never felt more at home or more welcome."
[21]
Musical style and influences
[
edit
]
Everlast's music ranges from
blues
to
hip hop
and
rock
.
[22]
After having previously established himself as a rapper earlier in his career, Everlast subsequently reinvented himself with a new sound that fused
acoustic rock
,
folk
,
blues
and
hip hop
under the alias Whitey Ford.
[23]
[22]
According to
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
, "Nobody ever would have guessed that the leader of
House of Pain
would come back after a bout of obscurity and a serious heart attack to reinvent himself as a hip-hop troubadour, rasping out bluesy
folk-rock
to a steady-rolling beat."
[24]
Everlast's influences include
N.W.A
,
Beastie Boys
,
Cypress Hill
,
Ice-T
,
Gang Starr
,
Johnny Cash
,
Bob Dylan
,
Tom Petty
,
The Rolling Stones
,
Bruce Springsteen
,
Neil Young
, and
Run-DMC
.
[22]
[25]
Accolades
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
Studio albums
Notes
[
edit
]
- A
^
"Ends" did not enter the
Billboard
Hot 100, but peaked at number 9 on the
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.
- B
^
"Put Your Lights On" did not enter the
Billboard
Hot 100, but peaked at number 18 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Alona Wartofsky (February 14, 1999).
"A B-Boy Changes His Tune, And Life"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
October 27,
2019
.
- ^
"Everlast"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
October 6,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Colin Larkin
, ed. (2000).
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music
(First ed.).
Virgin Books
. p. 148.
ISBN
0-7535-0427-8
.
- ^
"Dilated Peoples"
.
Dilatedpeoples.com
. Retrieved
February 22,
2009
.
- ^
"Whitey's Revenge"
.
Sing365.com
. Retrieved
June 23,
2009
.
- ^
"I Remember (Dedication To Whitey Ford)"
. Retrieved
June 23,
2009
.
- ^
"Quitter"
.
Metrolyrics.com
. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016
. Retrieved
June 23,
2009
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
"An unreleased Eminem diss record by House Of Pain's Everlast exists, says Cypress Hill's B-Real"
.
NME
.
- ^
"Full Vibe Interview With Eminem | Aftermath Entertainment"
. Archived from
the original
on July 9, 2011
. Retrieved
August 12,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Harling, Danielle (October 1, 2013).
"Slaine Says Eminem & Everlast Appear Together On Unreleased Busta Rhymes Song"
.
HipHopDX
. Archived from
the original
on May 4, 2015
. Retrieved
August 12,
2015
.
- ^
"Tommy Boy Artists Dance Again"
.
Allbusiness.com
. Retrieved
February 22,
2009
.
- ^
Johnny Loftus.
"White Trash Beautiful"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
August 12,
2015
.
- ^
"Martyr Inc"
.
Martyr-inc.com
. Retrieved
February 22,
2009
.
- ^
"UNCLE HOWIE, LA COKA NOSTRA PARTS WAYS WITH EVERLAST - "MASTERS OF THE DARK ARTS" IN STORES JUNE 26, 2012"
.
Unclehowie.tumblr.com
. Archived from
the original
on March 6, 2012
. Retrieved
May 11,
2012
.
- ^
"Everlast: Don't jump around"
.
Newshub
.
3 News
. November 15, 2013
. Retrieved
August 12,
2015
.
- ^
"Warporn Industries aka Everlast, Sick Jacken*, Divine Styler - Warporn Industries"
.
Discogs.com
. May 2017
. Retrieved
September 6,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Pozzolano, Vincent (September 4, 2018).
"Everlast ? Whitey Ford's House of Pain (Album Review)"
.
Crypticrock.com
. Retrieved
September 6,
2019
.
- ^
"Erik Schrody: Built to Last"
.
Rolling Stone
. March 18, 1999.
- ^
"Interview with Everlast (Erik Schrody)"
.
Islam.uga.edu
. Retrieved
May 11,
2012
.
- ^
"Everlast Talks New Album, 20-Plus Years Of Evolution, Juggling House Of Pain And La Coka Nostra"
.
Hiphopdx.com
. October 22, 2011
. Retrieved
February 17,
2017
.
- ^
"I felt at home in every mosque ... Allah is God of all the worlds"
.
Arab News
. July 24, 2015
. Retrieved
July 25,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
Ankeny, Jason (August 18, 1969).
"Everlast"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
May 11,
2012
.
- ^
Quinlan, Thomas (November 19, 2008).
"Everlast: Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford"
. Exclaim!
. Retrieved
January 6,
2023
.
- ^
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas
.
"Eat at Whitey's ? Everlast"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
January 6,
2023
.
- ^
Keyes, Cheryl Lynette (2002).
"Blending and Shaping Styles: Rap and Other Musical Voices"
.
Rap Music and Street Consciousness
.
University of Illinois Press
. p.
108
.
ISBN
9780252072017
.
- ^
"Eric "Everlast" Schrody"
.
Emmys.com
. Retrieved
December 5,
2019
.
- ^
"Everlast"
.
Grammy.com
. November 19, 2019
. Retrieved
December 5,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Studio albums
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EPs
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Compilation albums
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Singles
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Related articles
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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2010s
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Studio albums
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EPs
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Compilations
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Singles
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Related articles
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International
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Artists
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Other
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