Epic Rap Battles of History

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 7th, 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
==Awards and nominations==
Awards and Nominations for Epic Rap Battles of History
Year	Award Show 	Category 	Result 	Recipient(s)
2013	3rd Streamy Awards 	Best Writing: Comedy 	Nominated	Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist
2013	3rd Streamy Awards 	Best Online Musician 	Won 	Peter Shukoff
2013	3rd Streamy Awards 	Best Original Song 	Won 	Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist (Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates)
2013	3rd Streamy Awards 	Best Music Series 	Won 	Epic Rap Battles of History
2013	3rd Streamy Awards 	Best Use of Fashion & Design	Won 	Mary Gutfleisch
2013	1st YouTube Music Awards	Video of the Year 	Nominated	Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney
2013	1st YouTube Music Awards	Artist of the Year 	Nominated	Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahquist
2014	4th Streamy Awards 	 	 	
2014	4th Streamy Awards 	Best Editing 	Nominated	Andrew Sherman, Ryan Moulton, Daniel Turcan, and Nice Peter
2014	4th Streamy Awards 	Best Collaboration 	Nominated	Nice Peter, EpicLLOYD, and Snoop Dogg
2014	4th Streamy Awards 	Best Writing 	Won 	Nice Peter, EpicLLOYD, Zach Sherwin, Dante Cimadamore, and Mike Betette
2014	4th Streamy Awards 	Best Music Video 	Won 	Goku vs Superman
2014	4th Streamy Awards 	Best Use of Costume Design 	Won 	Sulai Lopez
==Trivia==
*Peter and Lloyd have played the only rappers to appear in a battle, i.e. no guest rappers, nineteen times, including Michael J. Fox vs Chucky.