User blog:ERBofSmoshery/Leonardo da Vinci vs Banksy - Epic Rap Battles of History: Season 2 Episode 2

Italian Renaissance artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, and British graffiti artist, Banksy, rap against each other to see which artist has the more creative work

Cast
Link Neal as Leonardo da Vinci

Rhett McLaughlin as Banksy

Lyrics=

Leonardo da Vinci:
Why don't you go fetch out your stencils from that rubbish lorry and see

If you can sketch out a decent image when you step up to Da Vinci?

Banksy's got no Effect, when his Mild Mild raps hear my testimony

They'll think how to skip this battle like he did the awards ceremony!

You Rat! Living underground, hearing the pound of Bristol Sound

But he still Don't Believe that like his Global Warming, he's being drowned!

Your street creed isn't credible Banksy, and it seems that your graffiti's

Starting to leave more than One Nation Under CCTV!

Banksy:
Yeah, my work is Barely Legal, but you seem to have missed the Elephant

What you do with a coloured paintbrush, to me, is simply irrelevant

'Cause my style advances deeper into the minds and thoughts of men!

I'm drawing up to a guy with no sway of the directions of his pen!

You call yourself a genius? Man, you're looking like some wet paint!

With a face so full of Drips, they made the beard of a Saint!

It seems your work attracts nothing more than a Banksy of England tip

It takes you ten years to break out any *spray*-ing type of lip!

I'm a work of art to everyone, painting flowers that flow to the road

I bet that sodomy wench man cracked more than your Da Vinci Code!

I should spray paint all over you Leo, Because your Worthless

With one can, I can make this geek worth a purchase!

Leonardo da Vinci:'''
A detailed brain of genius, brush strokes finer than my raps

Well it's not my fault the plumbers went and unclogged all your crap!

You're camping out in shady corners, spraying walls and gaining cops

But if I catch you in my exhibit you'll be leaving Through the Gift Shop!

Your stuff isn't even art, why don't you paint like a real man?

Stealing work from better artists whilst you jerk off your spray can!

Go grab your sewer rats and watch me draw out my rifle!

Every painting of your life is being marked as untitled!

Banksy:
Your brain may be big, but your red chalk mind is not even close!

I can't see a single thought, with all those smudges on your art notes!

Your work didn't reach good quality, you're an offence to God's mankind

Codex Leicester was only good enough for a screensaver in 95!

You don't even scare me Leo, what, with all your fake wings and little horns

Even DiCaprio managed to kick your ass before he was even born!

No more than a bore to me, you've broken your own Cardinal Sin!

But when I spit, people always say it's Better Out Than In!

Rap Meanings=

Leonardo da Vinci:
Why don't you go fetch out your stencils from that rubbish lorry and see

(Banksy switched to stencilling after he spotted the stencilled serial number of a rubbish lorry that he was hiding under from the police. Da Vinci starts by referencing this, and also calls his stencil work terrible, saying he should go and fetch them from out the rubbish lorry where they belong. He then goes on to say...)

If you can sketch out a decent image when you step up to da Vinci?

(...that Banksy should use his stencils to sketch out a decent image. This is a pun saying that Banksy looks terrible, and that he should "sketch" up a decent look when he faces someone like Da Vinci. It also refers to the fact that you sketch using stencils)

Banksy's got no Effect, when his Mild Mild raps hear my testimony

(A pun on the Banksy Effect, the name given to the time when the price of graffiti as street art suddenly rose. Later on in the line, there is a reference to one of Bansky's drawings, the Mild Mild West. Da Vinci is basically saying that Banksy has no effect on him, and when his mild raps hear his statements...)

They'll think how to skip this battle like he did the awards ceremony!

(...they will think about skipping the battle, as the competition is too hard. This is a reference to how Banksy won the 'Person of the Year' award in 2014, but wanted to stay anonymous, so he didn't go and collect it)

'''You Rat! Living underground, hearing the pound of Bristol Sound'''

(A pun on the name Blek le Rat, one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and how Banksy's style is similar to his. Straight after, there is a reference to the Bristol underground scene, which is the culture associated with graffiti art that has existed in Bristol from the early 1990s to the present. At the end of the line is another reference, this time towards the Bristol Sound, the name given to a number of bands from Bristol in the 1990s. Da Vinci is combining all of these references together, and calling Banksy a rat who lives underground, who spends his time listening to the outside world above him. This is also a joke about how Banksy spends most of his time on the streets)

But he still Don't Believe that like his Global Warming, he's being drowned!

(Da Vinci is referencing another bit of artwork by Banksy, I Don't Believe in Global Warming. The bottom half of this artwork is partly underwater. This is a joke about how Banksy is being drowned out by Da Vinci's raps, and also the sewage under Bristol, another joke about him being a rat)

Your street creed isn't credible Banksy, and it seems that your graffiti's

(Da Vinci is saying that Banksy has no respect on the streets, and that his graffiti...)

Starting to leave more than One Nation Under CCTV!

(...is causing CCTV cameras around the nation to be looking out for him, as graffiti is illegal. This is a reference towards the One Nation Under CCTV drawing by Banksy)

Banksy:
Yeah, my work is Barely Legal, but you seem to have missed the Elephant

(Banksy admits that his work is illegal, referencing his Barely Legal exhibition. Later on, he refers to the Elephant in the Room, a part of the exhibition. The elephant is supposed to represent big problems in the world such as world hunger. Banksy is saying that Da Vinci is missing the big point...)

What you do with a coloured paintbrush, to me, is simply irrelevant

(...which is the fact that he doesn't care about what Da Vinci does with his paintbrush, and that his work is irrelevant to him. Banksy then continues to explain this by saying...)

'Cause my style advances deeper into the minds and thoughts of men!

(...that his work makes people think deep into the meaning behind it)

I'm drawing up to a guy with no sway of the directions of his pen!

(Banksy states that he can't believe he's up against someone who can't even control the direction in which he writes, as Da Vinci writes from right to left. This is also a pun on the word "drawing", which in this case means 'squaring up to')

'''You call yourself a genius? Man, you're looking like some wet paint!'''

(Banksy doesn't believe that Da Vinci is a genius, and instead says that he looks like some wet paint)

With a face so full of Drips, they made the beard of a Saint!

(Here, he explains the previous line, and says that his face looks like a lot of wet paint is simply dripping down it, smudging everything in its path. The 'Drip' capitalisation is a reference to the Drip painting technique, used by artists such as Jackson Pollock. He then says that after a while, all the paint stops dripping, and all the drops make it look like he has a massive beard underneath his chin, here referencing Saint Nicholas, most commonly known as Santa Claus, who has a beard that is very similar to Da Vinci's)

It seems your work attracts nothing more than a Banksy of England tip

(Banksy references his fake money, known as the Banksy of England notes. He says that Da Vinci's work only attracts fake tips of money from people, as it isn't worth anything more)

It takes you ten years to break out any *spray*-ing type of lip!

(Leonardo da Vinci took around ten years to paint the Mona Lisa's lips. This is also a pun saying that it will probably take him ten years to break out any decent rhymes from his lips. The word 'fucking' is censored by a spray painting sound here, as Rhett and Link don't use profanity in their videos)

I'm a work of art to everyone, painting flowers that flow to the road

(Banksy is saying that he is a true work of art, and an inspiration to people. Here he mentions his painting, the Yellow Lines Flower Painter, which depicts a yellow flower on the wall leading into the double yellow lines on the road)

I bet that sodomy wench man cracked more than your Da Vinci Code!

(Da Vinci, along with three other men, was once accused of sodomy with a male prostitute. Banksy is making a joke which references a well known film, the Da Vinci Code, and says that Da Vinci's 'Code' wasn't the only thing the prostitue cracked, making references to the anal sex that they probably had)

I should spray paint all over you Leo, Because your Worthless

(Banksy is saying that Da Vinci is worthless, and that he should spray paint all over him, thus making him worth more. The Because your Worthless line is a reference to a Banksy painting, Because I'm Worthless)

With one can, I can make this geek worth a purchase!

(Another reference to how anything that Banksy draws on becomes worth millions. He is saying that with one spray can, he can make Da Vinci and his work worth something)

Leonardo da Vinci:
A detailed brain of genius, brush strokes finer than my raps

(Da Vinci is saying that his brain is full of detailed genius knowledge, and that his rhymes are finer than his paintbrushes. Having fine brush strokes means that they are very thin, thus making it a pun on the word 'fine')

Well it's not my fault the plumbers went and unclogged all your crap!

(Plumbers are known to fix things such as toilets or pipes. Some American plumbers once destroyed one of Banksy's paintings. Da Vinci is turning this into a joke by saying that the plumbers unclogged his crap, making a pun on the fact that plumbers fix toilets that could be clogged up, and the fact that the plumbers removed his painting, which he calls crap)

You're camping out in shady corners, spraying walls and gaining cops

(Banksy is known to spend most of time in streets or alleyways, doing graffiti on walls and attracting police attention)

But if I catch you in my exhibit you'll be leaving Through the Gift Shop!

(Da Vinci says that Bansky should stay on the streets, and if he brings any of his trouble into his art exhibit, he'll be made to leave right away. This is also a reference to a Banksy film, Exit Through the Gift Shop)

Your stuff isn't even art, why don't you paint like a real man?

(Da Vinci is saying that graffiti isn't art at all, and that Banksy should do skilled paintings like he does)

Stealing work from better artists whilst you jerk off your spray can!

''(Banksy is known to have stolen work from artists such as Andy Warhol and even Da Vinci himself, and changed them slightly into his own graffiti work. Da Vinci then makes a joke about how Banksy jerks off his spray can, having multiple meanings: 1) The 'spray can' refers to his penis, and Da Vinci says that Banksy just spends his time jacking off onto walls in the streets. 2) He says that Banksy literally jerks off his spray can, and the result of that is the splashes of paint all over the wall, referring to his art. 3) When someone shakes up a can of spray paint, it looks like they are jacking it off)''

Go grab your sewer rats and watch me draw out my rifle!

(Another joke about Banksy being a rat. He is saying that Banksy should grab all his fellow 'rats' and watch Da Vinci bring out his rifle. This is a reference to how Da Vinci used to fire a sniper rifle at enemy soldiers 300 yards away. This is also a pun on the word draw, as drawing out a rifle means that you bring it out, but it also refers to the fact that Da Vinci literally drew out a model of an rifle)

Every painting of your life is being marked as untitled!

(Paintings with no name are known as 'Untitled'. Da Vinci turns this into a joke by saying that if Banksy drew a painting about his life, it would be untitled, as hardly anything is known about him)'

Banksy:
 brain may be big, but your red chalk mind is not even close!

(Banksy admits that Da Vinci has a big brain, but he says that his thoughts and mind aren't even close to being as big as his brain is. Red chalk mind refers to a self-portrait by Da Vinci called the portrait of a man in red chalk)

I can't see a single thought, with all those smudges on your art notes!

(Following on from the previous line, Banksy says that the thoughts that Da Vinci apparently has aren't very effective, as the bad drawings are full of smudges and messy lines)

Your work didn't reach good quality, you're an offence to God's mankind

(A reference to Da Vinci's last words: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have". Banksy copies this and says that Da Vinci's drawings aren't of very good quality, and he is an offence to artists and mankind)

Codex Leicester was only good enough for a screensaver in 95!

(A follow on from the last line. Codex Leicester, a collection of scientific writings by Da Vinci, was bought by Bill Gates, and eventually became a screensaver for Windows 95. Banksy says that this is the best thing Da Vinci will get)

You don't even scare me Leo, what, with all your fake wings and little horns

(Da Vinci was known to be a prankster, and used to stick fake wings and horns on lizards. Banksy says that his pranks don't scare him at all)

Even DiCaprio managed to kick your ass before he was even born!

(Whilst she was pregnant, Leonardo DiCaprio's mother felt the first kick of her son when she was stood in front of a Da Vinci painting. This is why DiCaprio was named Leonardo. Banksy turns this into a joke and says that DiCaprio kicked Da Vinci's ass before he was even born)

No more than a bore to me, you've broken your own Cardinal Sin!

(The Da Vinci Code's cardinal sin is 'Thou shalt not bore'. Banksy turns this into a pun and says that Da Vinci is already boring him. This is also a reference to a Banksy sculpture, Cardinal Sin)

But when I spit, people always say it's Better Out Than In!

(Better Out Than In is a drawing by Banksy, depicting a man being sick on the street side. It is also a saying said by people when someone is sick. Banksy says that his raps are so sick that people end up saying 'Better out than in' to him)

Poll
Who won? Leonardo da Vinci Banksy