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".

[3] Following the album's failure, Everlast teamed up with fellow Taft High alumni 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 multi-platinum, 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).

[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.

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".

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.

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.

[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".

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 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.

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.

[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.