EPIC!!!

Welcome to the Battle Royale of historical icons, cultural references, and geeky rhymes that are so ill. There is only one rule: Outperform the competition. And how would the world know who won?

Trial by internet publicity.

Epic Rap Battles of History (ERB) is a video series seen over at YouTube and was originally conceptualized by Peter Shukoff (aka Nice Peter) and Lloyd Alqhuist (aka Epic Lloyd). The concept is simple: Famous Historical Pop Icon vs. Another Famous Historical Pop Icon in a heated rap battle. To be interesting, though, there is no unanimous winner, the YouTube comments would provide judgment over that. Moreover, the next rap battle match-up will ultimately be decided by the fans through their comments.

During its humble beginnings, the rap battles were budgeted under 50 dollars. Luck soon found its way as their video “Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler” became so viral, and it currently has 76 Million views. Since then, the series has had two seasons, with a third one locked in for a fall 2013 release.

Do not let the mere concept of iconic match-ups be the sole take away. The whole rap battle concept stands on its own. They are well thought of, while the beats are just so sick. The allusions and the metaphors are really sharp, you can’t help but express and say “BURNED.”  The fans did vote for really great match-ups: Skrillex vs. Mozart, Obama vs. Romney, Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs. If the crowd names it, they’ll rap it.

Heck, they even got Snoop Dogg to play Moses in one episode.

ERB was even featured as one of the topics in “Teens React”, a finebros documentary series over at YouTube as well. While the focus group did find the rap battles viral, it also helped spike their interests into history and pop culture.

So, without further ado, here are some of their best rap battles to offer:

Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler

Moses vs. Santa

Sherlock Holmes vs. Batman

Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs

Skrillex Vs. Mozart

As a bonus, Here’s a Skrillex vs. Mozart with the…actual Skrillex.

So…

Who won?

Who’s next?

YOU DECIDE!