Mister Rogers (ERB)

* rapper
* real person

**Mister Rogers** battled Mr. T in Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers. He also made a cameo appearance through reused footage in Bob Ross vs Pablo Picasso. He was portrayed by Nice Peter on both occasions, and Vince Horiuchi acted as his stunt double while he breakdanced in Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers.

## Information on the rapper

Fred McFeely Rogers was born on March 20th, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He was an American educator, Presbyterian minister, songwriter, author, and television host. Rogers was most famous for creating and hosting *Mister Rogers' Neighborhood* (1968–2001), which featured his gentle, soft-spoken personality and directness towards the audience.

Over the course of three decades on television, Rogers became an indelible American icon of children's entertainment and education, as well as a symbol of compassion, patience, and morality. He was also known for his advocacy of various public causes. His testimony before a lower court in favor of fair use recording of television shows to play at another time (now known as time shifting) was cited in a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Betamax case, and he gave a now-famous testimony to a U.S. Senate committee, advocating government funding for children's television. He succeeded by doing nothing more than explaining himself quietly and politely and quoting one of his songs from the show. He died of stomach cancer at the age of 74 on February 27th, 2003, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Rogers has seen something of a renewed interest in the fifteen-plus years after his death. In 2018, *Won't You Be My Neighbor?*, a documentary about Rogers' life by director Morgan Neville, grossed over $22 million and became the highest-grossing biographical documentary ever produced. In 2019, actor Tom Hanks portrayed him in the biographical film *A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood*, based on a magazine interview conducted at the height of Rogers' career.

## Appearance in the rap battle (cameo)

### **Bob Ross vs Pablo Picasso:**

Mister Rogers briefly appeared on Pablo Picasso's television screen at the end of his second verse.

## Lyrics

### **Verse 1:**

Hi there, neighbor.

I hope you don't mind if I change my shoes.

I'll be rocking sneakers till this battle's over,

So I don't get blood from your ugly face on my penny loafers.

I like you just the way you are, one in a million,

But it looks like the barber gave your head a Brazilian.

I pity your neck, Mr. Gold-Chains. You've got too many.

The only gold I keep is on the shelf in my Emmys.

I teach the whole world full of children, I can tell.

You call yourself T 'cause you're too dumb to spell.

### **Verse 2:**

Watch what you say. Kids love me more than lunch.

I'm not the one with my face on some whack-ass Captain Crunch.

When my plan comes together, you won't even see it coming.

I'll chop you into four black dudes and I'll remake *Cool Runnings*.

I'll say this once, Laurence. I hope it's understood.

Get right back in your van and get the fuck outta my neighborhood.

## Scrapped lyrics

I'll say this once, Terence. I hope it's understood.

## Trivia

* Rogers was referenced in Moses vs Santa Claus on Santa Claus' naughty list for being "Creepy. Rascist?", with "racist" being misspelled.
* He was the first rapper to require a stunt double.
* He has the third-highest percentage of winning votes on the official Epic Rap Battles of History Website, after Ludwig van Beethoven and Joan of Arc.