Epic Rap Battles of History (YouTube Series)

Epic Rap Battles of History, officially shortened to ERB or ERBoH, is a YouTube video series created by Peter Shukoff (Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (EpicLLOYD). The series features famous historical and pop culture figures, both fictional and non-fictional, against one another in a rap battle format. Every battle has some sort of connection between the figures used in each battle.

History
Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD first met freestyling on a porch in Chicago. EpicLLOYD recruited Nice Peter to join the improv comedy group Mission IMPROVable, which he helped found at the University of Massachusetts and later expanded across the country.

The idea for historical figures rapping against each other was conceived by Ahlquist, who gave the idea to Shukoff (the two later created a demo track, Michael J. Fox vs Chucky) as an improvised show, which was titled "Check One Two", as the two worked on improvisation skits, along with Zach Sherwin. 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. The series' second installment, Darth Vader vs Hitler skyrocketed the series' popularity, as well as the viewers for Nice Peter's and EpicLLOYD's channels.

After fifteen battles, the series ended its first season with "The Final Battle: Nice Peter vs EpicLLOYD", and launched Season 2 in December 2011 with a dedicated YouTube channel. ERB later returned with a third season in October 7, 2013, with Hitler vs Vader 3. A fourth season has also begun, with Ghostbusters vs Mythbusters as its premiere.

Episodes

 * Main article: List of Epic Rap Battles of History

Trivia

 * Peter and Lloyd have played the only rappers to appear in a battle nineteen times, including Michael J. Fox vs Chucky.