Synopsis

Everlast performs in a stark desert beside an abandoned bus while three people endure separate crises. A homeless man wanders through a barren landscape, a drug dealer faces deadly consequences, and a pregnant woman is left alone with an impossible decision. Intercut with these vignettes are surreal images of Everlast singing underwater as the characters appear to drown. In the closing sequence, they gather outside a window and watch an affluent family enjoy dinner, creating a bleak contrast between hardship and comfortable indifference.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in the United States in September 1998 to promote Everlast's album "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues."

• The clip uses a shorter version of the song. The album recording runs 5:03, while the video version runs approximately 4:37.

• The desert setting and abandoned bus give the performance scenes a deliberately isolated, almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere, contrasting with the warm domestic setting seen at the end.

• The underwater performance reflects the song's repeated imagery of drowning and emotional desperation. The three troubled figures are also shown submerged, linking their individual stories through a single visual motif.

• Everlast told The Washington Post that the homeless-man verse was inspired by his own earlier callous behavior toward a homeless person. That autobiographical detail adds a self-critical dimension to the song and its video.

• The song began with a guitar melody Everlast was playing while working with producer Dante Ross. Ross encouraged him to develop the idea, which eventually became the blues-rock and hip-hop hybrid heard in the finished track.

• "What It's Like" became Everlast's biggest solo success. It reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart, and reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart for one week.

• The video helped define Everlast's post-House of Pain identity. Rather than presenting him as a conventional rapper, it placed him in a somber singer-songwriter setting built around acoustic guitar, social observation, and blues imagery.