Synopsis

Jason Nevins opens the video with a boombox and his trademark yellow-tinted glasses before the action shifts to a dance space where male and female breakdance crews face off. The two sides trade increasingly athletic moves, freezes, spins, and synchronized routines in a playful but fiercely competitive battle. Run-D.M.C.'s vocals and Nevins' pounding house remix provide the soundtrack, while the video presents hip-hop choreography as a direct meeting point between old-school rap and late-1990s club culture.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was made for Jason Nevins' 1997 house remix of Run-D.M.C.'s 1983 debut single. The remix turned the stark original into a club-oriented track without replacing the group's vocal performance.

• Its central male-versus-female dance battle gives the video a simple visual hook and keeps the focus on movement rather than a conventional narrative.

• Jason Nevins appears at the beginning with a boombox and yellow-tinted glasses, briefly establishing the DJ behind the remix before the dancers take over.

• The release became a major international crossover hit. In the United Kingdom, it spent six weeks at No. 1 and blocked the Spice Girls' "Stop" from reaching the top of the chart.

• The success of "It's Like That" helped make late-1990s hip-house and dance remixes commercially visible again, while introducing a new generation of listeners to one of Run-D.M.C.'s earliest recordings.

• The official video has remained one of the most widely viewed Run-D.M.C. clips online, extending the remix's legacy well beyond its original club and pop-chart run.