2010 / Video / YouTube comedy music series
Epic Rap Battles of History
Historical figures, fictional characters, a beat, and the question every comment section wanted to answer: who won?
The original is off-site. HAHrchives preserves the story and a route back to it.
What happened
Two recognizable characters entered, traded tightly written insults in rhyme, and handed the verdict to viewers. Later battles upgraded the costumes, effects, guests, and production scale without changing the basic playground argument at the center.
Where it came from
Peter “Nice Peter” Shukoff and Lloyd “EpicLLOYD” Ahlquist turned a live-improv idea into a YouTube series in 2010. Their first episode, John Lennon vs. Bill O’Reilly, established the low-budget battle format before the dedicated ERB channel existed.
Why it mattered
ERB showed that YouTube-native comedy could become a durable serialized universe. It combined music video craft, nerdy research, participatory voting, and a deeply internet urge to pit two unrelated names against each other.
How it spread
Episodes became appointment viewing on YouTube, then traveled through quotes, reaction videos, fan debates, and schoolyard “who would win?” logic. The format’s premise was clear enough to explain in a title and elastic enough to last for years.
Keep going
The same corner of the internet
The universe, civilization, empires, and “the sun is a deadly laser” in nineteen extremely online minutes.
Look at your man. Now back at me. Now look at the internet trying to keep up.
A Norwegian comedy duo asked a perfectly normal animal question and answered it with noises nobody needed.
A duck walked up to a lemonade stand and asked the only question that mattered: got any grapes?