Martyr Inc. RecordsEverlast has posted a message on his Facebook page responding to the news that his hit song "What It's Like" was playing on North Charleston, SC police Officer Michael Slager's police cruiser radio when he pulled over Walter Scott for a broken tail light, moments before he shot and killed the 50-year-old man last weekend.
Many commentators have noted the irony of the song playing during the incident, given that "What It's Like" is about putting yourself in the place of people marginalized by society. The song's lyrics include the line, "God forbid, you ever had to wake up to hear the news/ 'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose."
Now, the musician writes on his Facebook page, "I'm being asked a lot to comment on the dash cam recording of the Walter Scott shooting. All I really have to say regarding it is that my heart goes out to the family of the victim and to interject my opinions any further would seem self serving and rather opportunistic."
He adds, "What song was playing isn't even important it's just ironic a song about empathy and compassion is the soundtrack to this awful action."
Thursday night, prior to posting the message, he tweeted a link from his verified Twitter account to N.W.A.'s famous protest song, "F**k tha Police."
"What It's Like," off Everlast's 1998 album, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, reached number one on both Billboard's Alternative Songs and Mainstream Rock Songs charts. Everlast was also the frontman for the 90's hip-hop group House of Pain, of "Jump Around" fame.
Slager was fired, arrested and charged with murder after video footage recorded by a passer-by showed him shooting Scott in the back as he was running away from his vehicle.
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