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.

History and background of the series

The idea for historical figures rapping against each other was conceived 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 Nice Peter's and Epic Lloyd'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.

Upcoming projects

On September 27, 2012, after a four month pause following the "Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates" episode, a video was leaked online on the series Youtube channel where Epic Lloyd (voicing Theodore Roosevelt) announced that a new epic rap battle will be released on October 1, along with additional rap battles every two weeks until the holidays. Dates announced: October 15, October 29, November 12, November 26, December 10.

Episodes

Season 1

Episode	Title	Running time	Original airdate	Link
1	"John Lennon vs. Bill O'Reilly"	1:37	September 26, 2010 (2010-09-26)	[1]
Nice Peter as John Lennon, EpicLLOYD as Bill O'Reilly
2	"Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler"	1:40	October 10, 2010 (2010-10-10)	[2]
Nice Peter as Darth Vader, EpicLLOYD as Adolf Hitler
3	"Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris"	2:07	December 8, 2010 (2010-12-08)	[3]
Nice Peter as Abe Lincoln, EpicLLOYD as Chuck Norris
4	"Sarah Palin vs. Lady Gaga"	2:25	January 11, 2011 (2011-01-11)	[4]
Nice Peter as Lady Gaga, Lisa Nova as Sarah Palin, EpicLLOYD as John McCain*
5	"Hulk Hogan and Macho Man vs. Kim Jong-il"	2:38	February 2, 2011 (2011-02-02)	[5]
Nice Peter as Hulk Hogan, Tim Delaghetto as Kim Jong-il, EpicLLOYD as Macho Man
6	"Justin Bieber vs. Ludwig van Beethoven"	2:28	March 2, 2011 (2011-03-02)	[6]
Nice Peter as Ludwig Van Beethoven, Alex Farnham as Justin Bieber, EpicLLOYD as Johann Sebastian Bach*
7	"Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking"	2:35	March 30, 2011 (2011-03-30)	[7]
Nice Peter as Stephen Hawking, MC Mr Napkins as Albert Einstein, EpicLLOYD as Carl Sagan*
8	"Genghis Khan vs. Easter Bunny"	1:57	April 20, 2011 (2011-04-20)	[8]
Nice Peter as Easter Bunny, EpicLLOYD as Genghis Khan, Aaron as Jesus Christ*, Dante Cimadamore as Jesus Quintana*, Kurt as Aaron Zaragoza Jesus*
9	"Napoleon Dynamite vs. Napoleon Bonaparte"	2:19	May 18, 2011 (2011-05-18)	[9]
Nice Peter as Napoleon Dynamite, EpicLLOYD as Napoleon Bonaparte
10	"Ben Franklin vs. Billy Mays"	2:30	June 23, 2011 (2011-06-23)	[10]
EpicLLOYD as Ben Franklin, Colin J. Sweeney as Billy Mays, Nice Peter as Vince Offer, Pat McIntyre as George Washington*
11	"Gandalf vs. Dumbledore"	2:10	July 14, 2011 (2011-07-14)	[11]
Nice Peter as Dumbledore, EpicLLOYD as Gandalf, Pat McIntyre as Gilderoy Lockhart*
12	"Dr. Seuss vs. William Shakespeare"	2:51	August 17, 2011 (2011-08-17)	[12]
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
13	"Mr. T vs. Mr. Rogers"	2:11	September 14, 2011 (2011-09-14)	[13]
Nice Peter as Mr. Rogers, DeStorm as Mr. T, EpicLLOYD as Mr. McFeeley*, Hannibal*, Murdock* and Face*, Vince Horiuchi as Mr. Rogers (break dancing)
14	"Christopher Columbus vs. Captain Kirk"	2:28	October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)	[14]
Nice Peter as Christopher Columbus, EpicLLOYD as Captain Kirk, Gharaibeh as Spock*, Jon Na as Sulu*, Mary Gutfleisch as Hot Alien*
15	"Nice Peter vs. EpicLLOYD"	2:50	November 18, 2011 (2011-11-18)	[15]
Nice Peter as Beethoven*, John Lennon*, Cat in the Hat*, Steven Hawking*, Hulk Hogan*, Abe Lincoln* and Himself, EpicLLOYD as Macho Man*, Chuck Norris*, Genghis Khan*, Gandalf*, Bach*, Napoleon Bonaparte*, Hitler*, Thing 1 and Thing 2*, Bill O'Reilly* and Himself, Kassem G as Himself

(*) denotes brief appearances

Season 2

Episode	Title	Running time	Original airdate	Link
1	"Hitler vs. Vader 2"	2:41	December 8, 2011 (2011-12-08)	[16]
Nice Peter as Darth Vader and Stephen Hawking*, EpicLLOYD as Adolf Hitler, Morgan Cristensen as Stormtrooper* and Bousch the Bounty Hunter*
2	"Master Chief vs. Leonidas"	2:11	January 31, 2012 (2012-01-31)	[17]
Nice Peter as Master Chief, Jesse Welle as Leonidas, Jeana as Gorgo*, EpicLLOYD as Pleistarchus* (credited as Six Year Old Son) and Leonidas (voice), Gabe Michael and Dante Cimadamore as Spartans*
3	"Mario Bros. vs. Wright Bros."	1:45	February 16, 2012 (2012-02-16)	[18]
EpicLLOYD as Mario, Nice Peter as Luigi, Link Neal as Orville Wright, Rhett McLaughlin as Wilbur Wright, Ceciley Jenkins as Princess Peach*
4	"Michael Jackson vs. Elvis Presley"	2:16	February 4, 2012 (2012-02-04)	[19]
Nice Peter as Adult Michael Jackson, Bentley Green as Young Michael Jackson and Tootie*, EpicLLOYD as Elvis Presley
5	"Cleopatra vs. Marilyn Monroe"	1:45	May 7, 2012 (2012-05-07)	[20]
Angela Trimbur as Cleopatra, Kimmy Gatewood as Marilyn Monroe, Kassem G as Himself*, EpicLLOYD as Marlon Brando* and Nice Peter as John F. Kennedy*
6	"Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates"	2:47	June 14, 2012 (2012-06-14)	[21]
Nice Peter as Steve Jobs, EpicLLOYD as Bill Gates, Nice Peter as voice of HAL 9000
7	"Frank Sinatra vs. Freddie Mercury"	TBA	October 1, 2012 (2012-10-01)	[22] [23]
EpicLLOYD as Frank Sinatra, Nice Peter as Freddie Mercury

(*) denotes brief appearances

External links

• Official website
• Official forums