Talk:Frank Sinatra vs Freddie Mercury/@comment-50.129.227.120-20120620012828

Instead of throwing out suggestions for the next rap battle, I think we can get a lot further by understanding what makes the rap battles work. I think there are three key elements:

1. People in the same arena

Rap battles between people in the same area (eg. scientist vs. scientist) tend to be better than those between people with vague connections. I think it helps clarify what the rap battle is about - eg. instead of just "I'm awesome and you suck" Gates vs. Jobs is about who is the better innovator.

Here are the raps between people in different arenas: O'Reilly vs. Lennon; Ben Franklin vs. Billy Mays; Lady Gaga vs. Sarah Palin; Genghis Khan vs. the Easter Bunny; Napoleon vs. Napoleon; Mr. Rogers vs. Mr. T; Chuck Norris vs. Lincoln; Mario Bros. vs. Wright Bros. and Hulk Hogan vs. Kim Jong Il. Many of these were good raps, but on average they are less good than the ones that were between people in the same area.

Those raps include:

Vader vs. Hitler (best villain); Gates vs. Jobs (best innovator); Einstein vs. Hawking (best scientist); Shakespeare vs. Dr. Seuss (best writer); Michael Jackson vs. Elvis (best singer); Justin Bieber vs. Beethoven (best musician); Cleopatra vs. Marilyn Monroe (best sex symbol); Kirk vs. Columbus (best explorer); Dumbledore vs. Gandalf (best wizard) and Master Chief vs. Leonidas (best general).

2. Comical characterizations

Funny costumes, unique voices (that can still work flow-wise), and funny facts that can be worked into the raps are vital to a good rap battle. The Marilyn Monroe vs. Cleopatra rap didn't work well because it lacked most of those things. The background was mostly just a background, there weren't a lot of interesting details worked into the raps, and the voices were not interesting (Marilyn Monroe started good, but soon lost her movie star elocution, while the Cleopatra just talked sexy... bo-ring).

So hypothetically, you could have a Bob Barker vs. Alex Trebek rap battle. They're both universally known gameshow hosts, after all. But they have pretty generic voices, they both wear suits. Details of their personal lives are also not generally known by the public (at least not me).

3. Universal recognition

The raps don't work if people won't recognize the characters. They've got to be so famous that, even if you haven't watched/read about the thing they're famous for, you still know stuff about them. Master Chief is the only character I was unfamiliar with, and it probably meant I missed a lot of the jokes in that rap. This is why Sheldon Cooper would be a terrible epic rap battle participant. If you suggest Sheldon, you should be shot.

With that in mind, lets apply the model to some suggestions below:

Sakurai vs. Disney (2. how are you going to make them interesting without having their video game/tv characters carry the video - and if you do that, why not make it Mario vs. Mickey or whatever 3. who the f*** is that).

Bart Simpson vs. Eric Cartman (it works, my only concern is that live action versions of either character would look stupid... maybe they can animate that one?)

Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes/Ironman (2. The Batman voice would be funny, but Ironman's wouldn't. Also, I've seen the latest Ironman movie and I don't think there are enough details to make a decent rap unless people have read the comic, hence: 3. Ironman is too obscure, in addition to being a really shitty superhero. Sherlock Holmes would work fine though)

Rosa Parks vs. Rebecca Black (1. what would this rap be about? What do these characters have in common? 2. What details could they work in for Rosa Parks other than she is some black lady?)

Shirley Temple vs. Willow Smith (3. Who the hell is Willow Smith?)

Doctor Who vs. Doc Emmett (This one would work great - they're both time travelers, they both have funny mannerisms and they're both widely known)

Muhammad Ali vs. Muhammad the Prophet (1. What would this rap be about? Having the same name is a bad premise for a rap battle. Also they have the same name in part because Muhammad Ali is a devout Muslim)

Sergeant Hartman vs. Commander Cody (3. Who the hell is commander Cody? And while we all know who the drill sergeant from FMJ is, nobody knows his name or much about him)

Al Gore vs. Captain Planet (I like this one a lot, the challenge would be 2. Al Gore is kind of boring, visually and vocally)

Ash vs. Darwin (1. The premise is too thin. Yeah Pokemons evolve, and Darwin wrote the theory of evolution. It's just not enough. 2. Ash is a very one-dimensional character, and Darwin is a boring old man)

Romeo and Juliet vs. Bonny and Clyde (Good premise, and I see the potential for an entertaining presentation. They're also universally recognized).

Here are some suggestions from me:

-Nixon vs. Kennedy

-Woody Allen vs. George Costanza

-Marlon Brando vs. Christopher Walken

-Fred Flinstone vs. Homer Simpson

-Shirley Temple vs. McCaulay Culkin

-Ebeneezer Scrooge vs. Santa Claus