Epic Rap Battles of History
Epic Rap Battles of History | |
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Maker Studios (1–5) Independent (6–pres.) | |
Original release | |
Network | YouTube |
Release | September 26, 2010 present | –
Epic Rap Battles of History (ERB) is a
The popularity of the music videos has led to mainstream partnerships, such as with Ubisoft, using the "Blackbeard vs Al Capone" episode to promote Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.[5] Additionally, "Terminator vs Robocop" in the fourth season was used to promote the upcoming release of the film Terminator Genisys and featured an appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger. ERB's popularity has also led to collaboration with mainstream artists.[6][7][8] Shukoff and Ahlquist also created a two-minute rap battle scene used in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.[9]
Although early episodes of the series featured only Shukoff and Ahlquist, later episodes have regularly featured guest appearances, and other internet celebrities such as
have also appeared in the series.On July 3, 2013, "
History
The idea for historical figures rapping against each other was conceived by Ahlquist, who pitched the idea to Shukoff as an improvised show titled "Check OneTwo"; both were working in improv at the time along with Zach Sherwin, who would later become a regular guest on the series.[1] They were met with high levels of difficulty at first and decided that the concept would fare much better as a YouTube series than an improv show.[2] The first three rap battles were each shot on a $50 budget.[11]
Before the web series existed on YouTube, Shukoff and Ahlquist recorded their first song, which was a battle between The song was freestyle and poorly made; as a result, it was not released to the public.
On September 26, 2010, the first rap battle was uploaded to YouTube, featuring Shukoff as
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 Ahlquist (voicing to an animation of Theodore Roosevelt) announced that new episodes would be released every two weeks until the Christmas holidays,[16] starting with the 22nd episode "Frank Sinatra vs. Freddie Mercury" (aired on October 1, 2012).[17] "Moses vs. Santa Claus", aired on December 10, 2012, was the last battle before taking a break for the holidays.[18]
On February 17, 2013, Epic Rap Battles of History was nominated for five Streamy Awards, winning four of them.[19] 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.
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".[24] This season also marked the first animated battle: "Zeus vs Thor", which was animated entirely with Lego bricks and minifigures; Forrest Whaley served as animation director. 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 Shukoff that there would be a fifth season, with pre-production starting in November 2015 once they came back from the world tour.
On December 16, the first off-season battle was released, entitled, "Deadpool vs. Boba Fett."
On February 26, 2016, it was announced that Season 5 would begin on May 2, 2016,[25] and on March 22 it was announced that production had begun.[26]
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 released battles every other Monday as of the first half of Season 5.[27] On July 12, 2016, "Alexander the Great vs. Ivan the Terrible" was released. This marked the midseason break.[28] Ahlquist later confirmed they were planning to return mid to late October. Filming began for the second half of Season 5 on September 23. On October 26, Season 5 resumed with "Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton". The final episode of Season 5, "Nice Peter vs EpicLLOYD 2" was released on January 9, 2017, where Ahlquist and Shukoff battle against each other once again, as it is a sequel to the Season 1 finale. Following the fifth season, ERB went on an extended hiatus.[2]
In 2016, Epic Rap Battles of History was nominated for an
In 2018, Shukoff announced there would be a sixth season during a performance at Anime Midwest.[29] On November 30, 2018, a video was posted on the official ERB YouTube channel, confirming that Season 6 would premiere in 2019. A "bonus battle" between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg was released on December 7, 2018.[30] In December 2018, Ahlquist said that they had gone "fully independent" of their production company.[31]
On April 20, 2019, the Season 6 premiere ("Freddy Krueger vs Wolverine") was released. ERB once again went on hiatus in December, after "Thanos vs J. Robert Oppenheimer". After a 10 month hiatus, ERB returned, with their third election rap battle, "
Format
Battles begin with a narrator speaking in a deep and somewhat unclear voice, first saying ‘Epic Rap Battles of History’ while the logo appears on screen. The names of the contestants are then announced, while the contestants and their names appear on screen. One contestant will rap against the other first, followed by the other, and so on. It is very common for many different ‘clones’ of the same contestant to appear while they are rapping. Different rap battles go on for different lengths of time, and some battles may only have two verses per contestant, especially earlier ones. The first 14 battles, except the 5th and 10th, only have 2 verses per contestant, while the 5th and 10th battles to be made (Hulk Hogan and Macho Man VS Kim-Jong Il and Billy Mays vs Ben Franklin) have third party rappers entering after some time, but still have a total of 4 verses only. Many rap battles feature a third party rapper entering the battle after some time, and as many as 3 rappers have entered a battle in some videos. When the battle concludes, the narrator asks the viewer who they think won and who should appear next, followed by the credits.
Cast
Main cast
Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff
Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist
Recurring cast
Actor | Characters | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7 | |
Zach Sherwin | Albert Einstein | Dr. Emmett Brown, Sherlock Holmes | Ebenezer Scrooge, Stephen King | Egon Spengler, Voltaire, Walt Disney | Alexander the Great, Wayne Gretzky | John Wick | |
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 Betto Bardi and Leonardo da Vinci | Meriwether Lewis and William Clark | ||||
Kimmy Gatewood | Marilyn Monroe | Hillary Clinton | |||||
Keegan-Michael Key | Mahatma Gandhi | Michael Jordan | |||||
Jordan Peele | Martin Luther King Jr. | Muhammad Ali | |||||
Timothy DeLaGhetto | Kim Jong-Il
|
Sun Tzu | |||||
Ray William Johnson | Boba Fett (voice), Goku | ||||||
Dan Bull | Jack The Ripper
|
Winston Churchill | |||||
Terry "KRNFX" Im | Lao Tzu
|
||||||
Michael "Wax" Jones | Quentin Tarantino | Freddy Krueger |
Guest appearances
|
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 15 | September 26, 2010 | November 16, 2011 | |
2 | 18 | December 8, 2011 | April 22, 2013 | |
3 | 12 | October 7, 2013 | July 14, 2014 | |
4 | 12 | November 10, 2014 | August 3, 2015 | |
Bonus | December 16, 2015 | |||
5 | 12 | May 2, 2016 | January 9, 2017 | |
Bonus | December 7, 2018 | |||
Flash | 3 | December 16, 2018 | January 26, 2019 | |
6 | 11 | April 20, 2019 | December 5, 2020 | |
Cancelled | February 15, 2020 | |||
7 | TBA | June 14, 2021 | TBA |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Result | Recipient(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 3rd Streamy Awards | Best Writing: Comedy | Nominated | Peter Shukoff, EpicLLOYD
|
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[42] | Nominated | "Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney" | |
Artist of the Year[42] | 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 | Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist, 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 |
Nominated | ||
68th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Variety Series | Nominated | ||
6th Streamy Awards | Collaboration | Nominated | Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist, Meghan Tonjes, Mike Betette and Zach Sherwin | |
2017 | 69th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Variety Series | Nominated | Epic Rap Battles of History |
See also
- Epic Rap Battles of History discography
References
- ^ a b Humphrey, Michael (October 26, 2011). "Epic Rap Battles of History: Talking Brash Wit With A YouTube Hit". Forbes. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Francisco, Eric (November 29, 2017). "The Dudes Behind 'Epic Rap Battles of History' Eye an Uncertain Future". Inverse. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Epic Rap Battles of History [@ERBofHistory] (December 7, 2018). "ERB Season 6 Billionaire Bonus Battle is HERE like a Boolean value of 1" (Tweet). Retrieved December 7, 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ "ERB YouTube channel statistics - StatSheep". Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ "Ubisoft Promotes Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag with Epic Rap Battles in new Video". Player Essence. October 21, 2013. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- ^ Glenn, Devon (June 12, 2013). "'Epic Rap Battles' Creators on Snoop: 'He's an Innovative Dude, That Dude'". Social Times. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
- ^ Barness, Sarah (June 17, 2014). "Weird Al And 'Bill Nye' Face Off In Epic Rap Battle Because The Universe Is Infinitely Awesome". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
- ^ Gutelle, Sam (June 16, 2014). "Weird Al Is Isaac Newton In New 'Epic Rap Battles Of History' Episode". Tubefilter. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
- ^ "6 Point Harness Makes a Splash With 'SpongeBob Movie'". Animation World Network. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Epic Rap Battles of History". Recording Industry Association of America. December 30, 2014. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ^ "Peter states that first 3 battles cost approx $50" (YouTube video). ERB2. YouTube. February 16, 2013. 1:25. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ "The First Epic Rap Battle of History - Michael J. Fox vs Chucky". YouTube. February 19, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
- ^ Kaufman, Leslie (October 29, 2013). "Making Silly Showdowns for YouTube". New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
- ^ "College News grades Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2". College News. December 14, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
- ^ "Epic Rap Battles of History". Epic Rap Battles of History. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ Gutelle, Sam (October 2, 2012). "'Epic Rap Battles' Returns, Will Post 6 Episodes Over Next 3 Months". Tubefiler. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ^ Perez, Daniel (October 2, 2012). "'Epic Rap Battles' Pits Queen's Freddy Mercury vs Frank Sinatra In Season 2 Premiere [VIDEO]". International Digital Times. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
- Ahlquist, Lloyd (September 27, 2012). "Epic Rap Battles of History News with Theodore Roosevelt". Epic Rap Battles of History. YouTube. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ^ "3RD ANNUAL NOMINEES". Streamys. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- ^ Epic Rap Battles of History (April 22, 2013). "Epic Rap Battles of History - Behind the Scenes - Rasputin vs Stalin". YouTube. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ Epic Rap Battles of History (May 22, 2013). "Epic Rap Battles of History News with Teddy Roosevelt 2". YouTube. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ^ Epic Rap Battles of History (October 14, 2013). "Epic Rap Battles of History News with Adam Smith". YouTube. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- ^ "Epic Rap Battles of History News, Season 3.5". YouTube. May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
- ^ "Epic Rap Battles of History Season 4". Epic Rap Battles of History. YouTube. September 30, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ @givememotion (February 27, 2016). "MAY 2. BUT I STILL CAN'T FIND MY PHONE" (Tweet). Retrieved March 26, 2016 – via Twitter.
- ^ @ERBofHistory (March 22, 2016). "The crew getting ready for our first shoot of the season!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 26, 2016 – via Twitter.
- ^ @givememotion (May 3, 2016). "Every other. Get ready! RT @cody7ydoc: @givememotion Will there be a new battle every other Monday for this set?" (Tweet). Retrieved May 14, 2016 – via Twitter.
- ^ ERB (July 12, 2016), Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible - Epic Rap Battles of History Season 5, retrieved July 18, 2016
- ^ Nice Peter (July 6, 2018), Untitled, Instagram, archived from the original on December 26, 2021, retrieved December 9, 2018
- ^ Nice Peter (November 30, 2018). "Epic Rap Battles of History News 2018". ERB/YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg. Behind the Scenes, December 7, 2018, retrieved December 7, 2018
- ^ "Donald Trump vs Joe Biden. Epic Rap Battles of History". YouTube. October 24, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
- ^ "Harry Potter vs Luke Skywalker. ERB Behind the Scenes". YouTube. December 5, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ @ERBofHistory (May 28, 2021). "A storm is brewing! Brand new ERB out June 14th! Sponsored by @riseofkingdoms Download their awesome game at: https://bit.ly/3yEHTVS #erb #Ad #rokvikings #riseofkingdoms" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Jeff Bezos vs Mansa Musa. Epic Rap Battles Of History". YouTube. November 28, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ "John Wick vs John Rambo vs John McClane. Epic Rap Battles of History". YouTube. December 18, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
- ^ "Lara Croft vs Indiana Jones. Epic Rap Battles of History". YouTube. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
- ^ "Henry Ford vs Karl Marx. Epic Rap Battles of History". YouTube. December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ Godzilla vs King Kong. Epic Rap Battles of History, retrieved February 23, 2024
- ^ @ERBofHistory (June 7, 2021). "Brand new ERB out June 14th!!! Get hyped! One week to go! Sponsored by @riseofkingdoms" (Tweet). Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "ERB - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
- ^ a b Spangler, Todd (October 21, 2013). "YouTube Music Awards Nominees Announced". Variety. Retrieved October 27, 2013.