Epic Rap Battles of History

Epic Rap Battles of History
Genre	Comedy Battle Rap
Created by	Nice Peter, EpicLLOYD
Written by	Nice Peter EpicLLOYD
Directed by	Dave McCary
Composers	Nice Peter EpicLLOYD
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	21
Production
Executive producer	Mickey Meyer
Producer	Gabe Michael
Running time	1-4 minutes
Production company	Maker Studios
Original release
Network	YouTube
Release	September 26, 2010 – present

Epic Rap Battles of History is an original YouTube video series created by Peter Shukoff (aka Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (aka EpicLLOYD). The series pits famous historical and pop culture figures, either fictional or otherwise, against one another (e.g.: Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler) in a rap battle format.

Although early episodes of the series featured only Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD, later episodes have regularly featured guest appearances from other digital celebrities such as Lisa Donovan, Timothy DeLaGhetto, George Watsky, DeStorm Power and Rhett and Link. Epic Rap Battles of History has been housed on its own YouTube channel since December 2011, according to Maker Studios, which produces and distributes the series.

Background

The idea for historical figures rapping against eachother was concieved by Lloyd, who gave the idea to Peter as an improv show, as the two worked on improvisation skits as well as on Youtube. They were met with lots of difficulty at first and decided that it would fare much better as a youtube series than an improv show. The series' second installment, "Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler" skyrocketed the series' popularity, as well as Nicepeter's and EpicLloyd's channels.

The 15th Epic Rap Battles of History, called the "Final Battle", was actually a season finale. Epic Rap Battles returned on December 8, 2011, hosted on their new channel, ERB, with Behind the Scenes on their second channel, ERB2.

Nice Peter and Maker Studios also created an official website for Epic Rap Battles of History and people can now vote for who they think won the battle, plus bios for all the characters that were in the series.

The series has been one of the most viewed series in YouTube history and has vaulted Nice Peter's YouTube channel into the 89th most viewed of all-time in YouTube history. As of the middle of 2012, all the rap battles combined have over 557 million views. As of August they have over 1.5 million subscribers.

Season 1

Rap Battle	Ref	Air date	Also includes	Cast	Winner (% of votes as of Aug. 2012)
John Lennon vs. Bill O'Reilly	[1]	September 26, 2010		Nice Peter as John Lennon EpicLLOYD as Bill O'Reilly	John Lennon- 79%
Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler	[2]	November 10, 2010	Stormtrooper*	Nice Peter as Darth Vader, EpicLLOYD as Adolf Hitler	Darth Vader- 65%
Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris	[3]	December 8, 2010		Nice Peter as Abe Lincoln EpicLLOYD as Chuck Norris	Abraham Lincoln- 56%
Sarah Palin vs. Lady Gaga	[4]	January 11, 2011	John McCain*	Nice Peter as Lady Gaga Lisa Nova as Sarah Palin EpicLLOYD as John McCain	Sarah Palin- 70%
Hulk Hogan vs. Kim Jong-il	[5]	February 2, 2011	"Macho Man" Randy Savage	Nice Peter as Hulk Hogan, Tim Delaghetto as Kim Jong-il EpicLLOYD as Macho Man	Hulk Hogan and Macho Man- 60%
Justin Bieber vs. Ludwig van Beethoven	[6]	March 2, 2011	Johann Sebastian Bach*	Nice Peter as Ludwig Van Beethoven Alex Farnham as Justin Bieber EpicLLOYD as Johann Sebastian Bach	Ludwig Van Beethoven- 93%
Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking	[7]	March 30, 2011	Carl Sagan*	Nice Peter as Stephen Hawking MC Mr Napkins as Albert Einstein EpicLLOYD as Carl Sagan	Stephen Hawking- 59%
Genghis Khan vs. Easter Bunny	[8]	April 20, 2011	Jesus Christ*, Jesus Quintana* and Aaron Zaragoza Jesus*	Nice Peter as Easter Bunny EpicLLOYD as Genghis Khan Aaron as Jesus Christ Dante Cimadamore as Jesus Quintana Kurt as Aaron Zaragoza Jesus	Genghis Khan- 66%
Napoleon Dynamite vs. Napoleon Bonaparte	[9]	May 18, 2011		Nice Peter as Napoleon Dynamite EpicLLOYD as Napoleon Bonaparte	Napoleon Bonaparte- 65%
Benjamin Franklin vs. Billy Mays	[10]	June 23, 2011	Vince Offer and George Washington*	EpicLLOYD as Benjamin Franklin Colin J. Sweeney as Billy Mays Nice Peter as Vince Offer Pat McIntyre as George Washington	Billy Mays and Vince Offer- 60%
Gandalf vs. Dumbledore	[11]	July 14, 2011	Gilderoy Lockhart*	Nice Peter as Dumbledore EpicLLOYD as Gandalf Pat McIntyre as Gilderoy Lockhart	Dumbledore- 52%
Dr. Seuss vs. William Shakespeare	[12]	August 17, 2011	The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2	George Watsky as William Shakespeare Mickey Meyer as Dr. Seuss Nice Peter as The Cat in the Hat EpicLLOYD as Thing 1 and Thing 2	Dr. Seuss- 52%
Mr. T vs. Mr. Rogers	[13]	September 14, 2011	Mr. McFeeley*, Hannibal*, Murdock* and Face*	Nice Peter as Mr. Rogers DeStorm as Mr. T EpicLLOYD as Mr. McFeeley, Hannibal, Murdock and Face Vince Horiuchi as Mr. Rogers (break dancing)	Mr. Rogers- 86%
Christopher Columbus vs. Captain Kirk	[14]	October 10, 2011	Spock*, Sulu* and Hot Alien*	Nice Peter as Christopher Columbus EpicLLOYD as Captain Kirk Jon Na as Sulu Gharaibeh as Spock Mary Gutfleisch as Hot Alien	Christopher Columbus- 72%
Nice Peter vs. EpicLLOYD	[15]	November 18, 2011	Randy Savage*, Chuck Norris*, Genghis Khan*, Gandalf*, Bach*, Napoleon Bonaparte*, Beethoven*, Adolf Hitler*, Thing 1 and Thing 2*, John Lennon*, Cat In the Hat*, Steven Hawking*, Hulk Hogan*, Abe Lincoln*, Bill O'Reilly*, and Kassem G	Nice Peter as Beethoven, John Lennon, Cat in the Hat, Steven Hawking, Hulk Hogan, Abe Lincoln, and Himself EpicLLOYD as Randy Savage, Chuck Norris, Genghis Khan, Gandalf, Bach, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Thing 1 and Thing 2, Bill O'Reilly and Himself Kassem G as Himself	NicePeter- 57%

(*) denotes brief appearances

Season 2

Rap Battle	Ref	Air date	Also includes	Cast	Winner (% of votes as of Aug. 2012)
Adolf Hitler vs. Darth Vader 2	[16]	December 8, 2011	Stephen Hawking*, Stormtrooper* and Bousch the Bounty Hunter*	Nice Peter as Darth Vader and Stephen Hawking EpicLLOYD as Adolf Hitler Veronica Blue as Bosch the Bounty Hunter Morgan Cristensen as Stormtrooper	Darth Vader- 57%
Master Chief vs. Leonidas	[17]	January 31, 2012	Gorgo*, Pleistarchus (credited as Six Year Old Son)* and Spartans*	Nice Peter as Master Chief Jesse Welle as Leonidas Jeana as Gorgo EpicLLOYD as Pleistarchus and Leonidas (voice) Gabe Michael and Dante Cimadamore as Spartans	Master Chief- 63%
Mario Bros. vs Wright Bros.	[18]	February 16, 2012	Princess Peach*	EpicLLOYD as Mario Nice Peter as Luigi Link Neal as Orville Wright Rhett McLaughlin as Wilbur Wright Ceciley Jenkins as Princess Peach	Wright Brothers- 55%
Michael Jackson vs. Elvis Presley	[19]	April 2, 2012		Nice Peter as Adult Michael Jackson Bentley Green as Young Michael Jackson EpicLLOYD as Elvis Presley	Michael Jackson- 66%
Cleopatra vs. Marilyn Monroe	[20]	May 7, 2012	Kassem G*, Marlon Brando* and John F. Kennedy*	Angela Trimbur as Cleopatra Kimmy Gatewood as Marilyn Monroe Kassem G as Himself EpicLLOYD as Marlon Brando Nice Peter as John F. Kennedy	Cleopatra- 69%
Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates	[21]	June 14, 2012	HAL 9000 running on Linux	Nice Peter as Steve Jobs EpicLLOYD as Bill Gates Nice Peter as voice of HAL 9000	Steve Jobs- 55% ( The ERB website only lists Jobs and Gates, HAL 9000 can't be voted for)

• Nice Peter has shown interest in making Vladimir Putin vs. Rasputin, Ronald McDonald vs. Colonel Sanders, Harry Potter vs. Edward Cullen, Goku vs. Superman, King Henry VIII vs. Hillary Clinton, Ash Ketchum vs. Charles Darwin and Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes.

External links

• Official website