Epic Rap Battles of History and the people I had never heard of

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Social Media

I want to talk about Epic Rap Battles of History. Why? ERB is one of my favourite YouTube channels for all of the best reasons. History, music, pop culture and burns. A whole lot of burns.

If you don’t know about ERB, don’t worry, I used to be just like you. ERB creates videos that have two or more individuals involved in a rap battle. These individuals are either fictional characters from books, movies, tv shows, video games, and comic books; or real people from history, whether they are living or dead.

The first ERB video I saw was Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes and I loved it. I mentioned it to my girlfriend at the time (later my future wife) and she was dismayed that I had only just discovered it. Because of this, she mentioned some insult about my age that I can’t remember 1.

The series was created by Nice Peter (Peter Shukoff) and EpicLLOYD (Lloyd Ahlquist) and has evolved from a sketch in an improvised show to legendary status; at least to me. The first rap battle was released on YouTube in 2010 and since then, the channel has had multiple guest actors, performers and writers.

My ERB black t-shirt

Apart from the fact that the rap battles are as funny as Wile E. Coyote failing, they do actually educate people; especially concerning historic icons. With each new rap battle, my wife and I will sit and watch it together, because you know what they say…the couple that watch rap battles together, um…watch rap battles together.

Anyway, I love picking up subtle references with the lyrics, so I get to polish my geek badge after each rap battle. Well, that is not entirely true. Now I love history. I love learning weird and bizarre things about historic people and events, because it keeps me semi-sane. To prove a point, while my classmates were going to school dances, I was at home reading the oldest set of encyclopedias, humanity had ever seen. Why? Because some geek didn’t tell me about history, so I had to learn about it myself.

Coming back to ERB, there have been some rap battles where I have looked at one of the historic or pop culture figures in the opening credits, and had no idea who they were. This would mean I would have to quickly research the person before the rap battle started, so I had an idea on what to expect.

I’ve decided to list them in order of release and for your entertainment. In my defence, the five people listed are all Americans, and being a non-American myself, means I don’t know everything about America. Yet.

Season 1

Billy Mays vs. Ben Franklin

I had no idea about Billy Mays, I had never heard of him. I understand he was a salesperson on the Home Shopping Network, however I did know about Benjamin Franklin, so that’s a plus! I felt like I should have known about Billy Mays, but I didn’t; I let the team down.

Season 2

Mozart vs. Skrillex

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was easy, but Skrillex?! Skrillex?! Since my musical appreciation ended about 2000-2005, I really didn’t know of any new bands or artists. My future wife at the time; whom is 9.5 years younger than me, was shocked that I didn’t know who he was. Leave me alone, I’m old. I thought Skrillex sounded like an antidepressant, so after researching him and watching the rap battle, I considered myself educated. Not like the Tories.2

Season 3

Bob Ross vs. Pablo Picasso

I knew of Pablo Picasso, but never met him, because….he died before I was born. Yeah, that’s the reason. Anyway, my issue was with Bob Ross. I knew of some artist that taught people to paint happy little trees on television, but I didn’t know that guy was Bob Ross. After matching the name to the face, I now know about cadmium yellow.

Season 5

Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child

Now before you get excited, yes, I have heard of Gordon Ramsay. It’s Julia Child, I had never heard of. When the opening credits for the video started, I said, “Who the hell is Julia Child?!” My wife had worked in the food industry, so unknown to me, she was the perfect person to educate me. Upon wondering how I had lived my entire life having never heard of Julia Child, she told me all about her. The rap battle made a lot more sense because of that, even with my beloved ignorance.

Season 5

Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson

Out of the five entries on this list, Frederick Douglass is the one I’m the most ashamed of not knowing. As soon as I read the title of the video, I realised we didn’t know a single thing about Frederick Douglass, so my wife and I paused the video and researched him. As I was reading about his life, it reinforced the concept that even though I knew some things about US history, there are equally as many things that I didn’t know. Because of this, it quickly became my favourite rap battle for Season 5.

I love ERB and I will write more about it. Eventually. Do you watch ERB? Has there ever been a rap battle with a person you had never heard of? Please let me know.

Well that’s it for me. I’m still making my way through Star Trek: Discovery. I’m at the halfway point of Season 4, so wish me luck. So thanks for reading, go watch some football, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you next week.

1 I lied, I remember exactly what she said.

2 Sorry, I couldn’t help it.