Epic Rap Battles of History

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Epic Rap Battles of History
File:Epic Rap Battles of History Logo.png
Series logo
Genre Comedy hip hop
Battle rap
Created by Peter Shukoff
Lloyd Ahlquist
Written by Peter Shukoff
Lloyd Ahlquist
Directed by Dave McCary (seasons 1-2)
Jackson Adams (season 3)
Daniel M. Turcan (season 3)
Forrest Whaley (episodes 48 & 58)
Peter Shukoff (seasons 3-5)
Mike Betette (seasons 3-5)
Composer(s) Peter Shukoff
Lloyd Ahlquist
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 61 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Michelle Maloney
Running time 1–5 minutes
Production company(s) Maker Studios
Distributor Disney Interactive
Release
Original network YouTube
Original release September 26, 2010 –
present
External links
Website

Epic Rap Battles of History is a YouTube video series created by Peter Shukoff (a.k.a. Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (a.k.a. EpicLLOYD). The series pits famous historical and pop culture figures, real and fictional, against one another in a rap battle format.[1] As of May 2016, it is the 20th most subscribed channel on YouTube with over 13.2 million subscribers and over 3 billion total video views.[2]

Although early episodes of the series featured only Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD, later episodes have regularly featured guest appearances from other internet celebrities such as Lisa Donovan, Timothy DeLaGhetto, George Watsky, DeStorm Power, Jesse Wellens, Jenna Marbles, Ray William Johnson, Rhett and Link, and Smosh. Media celebrities like rappers Snoop Dogg and Chali 2na, parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic, and the comedian duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have also appeared in the series.

On July 3, 2013, Epic Rap Battle of History's Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney became the first of its singles to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States. Ten other singles, including Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler, Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking, Dr. Seuss vs Shakespeare, Master Chief vs Leonidas, Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates, Justin Bieber vs Beethoven, Mario Bros. vs Wright Bros., Mr T vs Mr Rogers, Abe Lincoln vs Chuck Norris and Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler 2, were subsequently also certified Gold.[3]

History and development

Dante Cimadamore (left) and Peter Shukoff (right)

The idea for historical figures rapping against each other was conceived by Ahlquist, who gave the idea to Shukoff as an improvised show, which was titled "Check OneTwo"; as the two worked on improvisation skits, along with Zach Sherwin, who has appeared on the series.[1] 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 first three rap battles were each shot on a $50 budget.[4] On September 26, 2010, the first rap battle was uploaded to YouTube, featuring Shukoff as John Lennon and Ahlquist as Bill O'Reilly.[5]

Before the web series even existed on YouTube, Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD recorded the very first song, which was a battle between Child's Play antagonist Chucky and actor Michael J. Fox.[6] The song was freestyle and poorly made; as a result, it was not released to the public. Instead, Shukoff and Ahlquist recorded their first official song for the first episode John Lennon vs. Bill O'Reilly.

The 15th episode, called "The Final Battle", marked the end of the first season.This battle pitted EpicLLOYD and NicePeter against each other with cameos from all of the characters they had played over the fifteen episodes. Epic Rap Battles of History later returned on December 8, 2011, hosted on their new channel (moving from NicePeter's personal channel), ERB, with behind-the-scenes videos on their second channel, ERB2.[7] Nice Peter and Maker Studios also created the official website for the series,[8] where fans could vote on winners for each video, and read short comical first-person biographies by each character.

On September 27, 2012, following a four-month pause after the Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates episode, a video was released on the series' YouTube channel where EpicLLOYD (voicing to an animation of Theodore Roosevelt) announced that new episodes would be released every two weeks until the Christmas holidays,[9] starting with the 22nd episode Frank Sinatra vs. Freddie Mercury (aired on October 1, 2012).[10] Moses vs. Santa Claus, aired on December 10, 2012, was the last battle before taking a break for the holidays.[11]

On February 17, 2013, Epic Rap Battles of History was nominated for five Streamy Awards, winning four of them.[12] Shukoff and Ahlquist also performed part of the Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates battle live.

On September 9, 2013, ERB uploaded a trailer video on their channel announcing that Epic Rap Battles of History would return on October 7, 2013 for a third season.[13][14] On October 14, ERB released a second video with EpicLLOYD voicing Theodore Roosevelt, who announced the upcoming season's schedule.[15] The third season went on hiatus after the release of Donald Trump vs. Ebenezer Scrooge on December 19, 2013. In March 2014, an episode of Nice Peter's weekly show The Monday Show, published on March 11, and a third announcement video of Epic Rap Battles of History News, published on March 18, confirmed that Season 3 would continue on May 5, 2014. "Weird" Al Yankovic, Smosh, and Rhett and Link were also confirmed as guest appearances.[16] The third season concluded with the release of Artists vs. TMNT on July 14, 2014.

On September 30, 2014, a teaser video for the fourth season of Epic Rap Battles of History, featuring the Ghostbusters and MythBusters, was released; the series returned on November 10, 2014 with its 46th episode, Ghostbusters vs. Mythbusters.[17] On December 15, 2014, when Steven Spielberg vs. Alfred Hitchcock was released, the fourth season went on hiatus. The season continued on May 25, 2015 and concluded with the release of the season finale, Jim Henson vs. Stan Lee, on August 3, 2015.

It was confirmed in a podcast by NicePeter that there would be a Season 5, with pre-production starting in November once they are back from the world tour.

On December 16, the first ever off-season battle was released, entitled, "Deadpool vs. Boba Fett".

On February 26, it was announced that Season 5 would begin on May 2, 2016,[18] and on March 22 it was announced that production has began.[19]

Season 5 officially began on May 2, 2016, with the release of the first battle of the season, George R.R. Martin vs. J.R.R Tolkien. ERB releases battles every other Monday as of Season 5.[20]

Cast

Main cast

Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff
Season Characters
1

John Lennon, Darth Vader, Abraham Lincoln, Lady Gaga, Hulk Hogan, Ludwig van Beethoven, Stephen Hawking, Easter Bunny, Napoleon Dynamite, Vince Offer, Albus Dumbledore, The Cat in the Hat, Mr. Rogers, Christopher Columbus, Himself
2 Darth Vader, Master Chief, Luigi, Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs, HAL 9000 (voice), Freddie Mercury, Abraham Lincoln, Tenth Doctor, Batman, Santa Claus, Nikola Tesla (voice), Lance Armstrong, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Grigori Rasputin, Vladimir Lenin, Vladimir Putin
3 Darth Vader, Blackbeard, Bob Ross, Donald Trump, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Rick Grimes, Bill Nye, George Washington, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (voices)
4 Jamie Hyneman, Romeo Montague, Zeus (voice), Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Ted "Theodore" Logan, David Copperfield, RoboCop, Friedrich Nietzsche, Julius Caesar, Jim Henson, Kermit the Frog (voice)
Bonus Battle Boba Fett (voice)
5 J. R. R. Tolkien, Thomas Jefferson
Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist
Season Characters
1 Bill O'Reilly, Adolf Hitler, Chuck Norris, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin, Gandalf, Thing 1 and Thing 2, James T. Kirk, Himself
2 Adolf Hitler, Leonidas I (voice), Mario, Elvis Presley, Bill Gates, Frank Sinatra, Mitt Romney, Clint Eastwood, Robin, Christmas Elves, Adam, Thomas Edison, Babe Ruth, Skrillex, Joseph Stalin, Mikhail Gorbachev
3 Adolf Hitler, Al Capone, Pablo Picasso, J. P. Morgan, Walter White, Superman, William Wallace, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (voices and portrayals)
4 Adam Savage, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (voice), Clyde Barrow, Thor (voice), Hannibal Lecter, Alfred Hitchcock, Bill S. Preston, Esq, Harry Houdini, Terminator, Socrates, Stan Lee
Bonus Battle Deadpool (voice)
5 George R. R. Martin, Gordon Ramsay

Recurring cast

Actor Characters
Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4
Timothy DeLaGhetto Kim Jong-Il Sun Tzu
Zach Sherwin Albert Einstein Doc Brown, Sherlock Holmes Ebenezer Scrooge, Stephen King Egon Spengler, Voltaire, Walt Disney
George Watsky William Shakespeare Fourth Doctor Edgar Allan Poe
DeStorm Power Mr. T Kanye West Shaka Zulu
Rhett and Link Wilbur and Orville Wright Donatello di Niccolo and Leonardo da Vinci Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
Keegan-Michael Key Mahatma Gandhi Michael Jordan
Jordan Peele Martin Luther King, Jr. Muhammad Ali
Ray William Johnson Boba Fett (voice), Goku
KRNFX Grant Imahara, Lao Tzu

Guest appearances

Episodes

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Main article: List of Epic Rap Battles of History episodes

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for Epic Rap Battles of History
Year Award Show Category Result Recipient(s)
2013 3rd Streamy Awards Best Writing: Comedy Nominated Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist
Best Online Musician Won Peter Shukoff
Best Original Song Won Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist ("Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates")
Best Music Series Won Epic Rap Battles of History
Best Use of Fashion & Design Won Mary Gutfleisch
1st YouTube Music Awards Video of the Year[22] Nominated "Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney"
Artist of the Year[22] Nominated Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist
2014 4th Streamy Awards Best Writing Won Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist, Zach Sherwin, Dante Cimadamore, Mike Betette
Music Video Won "Goku vs. Superman"
Costume Design Won Sulai Lopez
Editing Nominated Andrew Sherman, Ryan Moulton, Daniel Turcan, Peter Shukoff
Collaboration Nominated Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist, Snoop Dogg ("Moses vs. Santa Claus")
2015 5th Streamy Awards Writing Won Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist, Zach Sherwin, Dante Cimadamore and Mike Betette
Costume Design Won Sulai Lopez
Editing Won Andrew Sherman, Ryan Moulton, Daniel Turcan and Peter Shukoff
Collaboration Won Nice Peter, EpicLLOYD, Grace Helbig, and Hannah Hart
26th Producers Guild of America Awards Outstanding Digital Series Nominated Epic Rap Battles of History
2016 27th Producers Guild of America Awards Outstanding Digital Series Nominated Epic Rap Battles of History

See also

References

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External links

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