Saturday, April 27, 2013

Epic Rap Battles of History: Best to Worst

1) Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking: This battle had the best line of the Rap Battles about the "10 million million million million... particles in the universe."  The Hawking impressions with the eye and lip movements made this a battle to remember.  MC Mr. Napkins is awesome in this appearance with the tongue out and wild hair.  This rap battle may have been what hooked me on ERB (Epic Rap Battles of History).

2) Master Chief vs. Leonidas: This battle is truly epic in its beat and characters.  EpicLLOYD in a diaper was quite the site to behold.  It features a signature ERB move: the woman shrugging off her husband/ boyfriend's opponent's line about attaining her.

3) Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison: This battle is more than memorable, especially the chorus in the end.  It has a great beat.  You can see the anger in the character's eyes: this is truly a match-up of karma.  EpicLLOYD does what he does best: an old man in a rage, and Nice Peter does the Serbian voice with perfection.

4) Stalin vs. Rasputin: An awesome season finale with surprise appearances from several Russians, after building up to it all season.  Putin's rap was hilarious, the birthmark was amusing, and Rasputin came off as creepy as ever.

5) Mario Bros vs. Wright Bros: A great gaming beat set the tone for perfect props like the mushrooms, and references to Mario that young people can really appreciate.  This one gets stuck in my head often.

6) Mr. T vs. Mr. Rogers: This battle twists and turns through a great beat and polar opposite characters.  It was hilarious how the subject of children became the main topic of the battle, only for different reasons.  Nice Peter can do creepy so well, whether a Russian monk or a children's show host.

7) Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes: Batman was good, the jokes were great, but Robin's appearance turned this from an average rap battle into one of the funniest.  One of my favorite ERB moments: "Holy Conan Doyle, let's get 'em!"

8) Dr. Suess vs. William Shakespeare: The appearances of Suess's characters made this battle.  Also Watsky's lines at 100 lip movements per second.  The costumes were at their best in this battle.

9) Gandalf vs. Dumbledore: Two awesome wizards with ridiculous personalities and spells to exploit.  Truly a classic rap battle.

10) Frank Sinatra vs. Freddy Mercury: Not a match-up that comes to mind, but it came out great!  I love the Queen touches in the instrumental.

11) Doc Brown vs. Doctor Who: As a big Back to the Future fan, I got a kick out of a bunch of the lines.  Watsky is great in both his appearances in Epic Rap Battles.

12) Michael Jackson vs. Elvis Presley: Nice impressions, and the evolution into older Jackson was entertaining.  Two singers who are very easy to diss.

13) Ghandi vs. Martin Luther King, Jr: An ironic match-up with a great rhythm, and even greater lines.  "Always stay away from the hoes!"

14) Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney: I thought the rhetoric was a bit dull during election season, but when Lincoln made an appearance, it brought out the public's true feelings!

15) Genghis Khan vs. The Easter Bunny: I hated this one at first.  Then I realized how ridiculous it was and started enjoying the flamboyant Easter Bunny character a lot.  Also an appearance of Jesus from Big Lebowski!

16) Adam vs. Eve: A good representation of the sex's gripes. 

17) Sarah Palin vs. Lady Gaga: Having Nice Peter as Lady Gaga was genius, and that was an impressive Palin impression.

18) Moses vs. Santa Claus: Snoop Lion stole the show with his "honeys."  There was potential for greater lines from Moses though.

19) Mozart vs. Skrillex: It took me a few listens to start enjoying this one, but there are some awesome put-downs in it.

20) Justin Bieber vs. Beethoven: Some good lines in this one, and the beat is a good combination of Bieber's pop and Beethoven's classical music.

21) Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates: Overrated, but catchy, especially Hal's lines.

22) Darth Vader vs. Hitler 2: A nice start to season 2.  The opening was hilarious.

23) Clint Eastwood vs. Bruce Lee: Eastwood was done beautifully in this rap.  Lots of Asian jokes, which were a bit much, but I enjoy the lack of political correctness in these raps. 

24) Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris: Both great characters.  An epic, but not their funniest.  Lloyd makes a great Norris.

25) Darth Vader vs. Hitler: This may have "made" the epic raps' fame, but there have been two dozen better ones since it.

26) Bill O' Reilly vs. John Lennon: A decent opening to an amazing 33 raps, but not nearly as funny as later episodes.

27) Cleopatra vs. Marilyn Monroe: I like the female match-ups.  However, when it's 100% about sex, the appeal wanes.

28) Napoleon vs. Napoleon: An amusing match-up with memorable lines, but it was lacking something.

29) Nice Peter vs. EpicLLOYD: A nice way to sum up season 1, but much less interesting out of costume.

30) Babe Ruth vs. Lance Armstrong: Both very interesting figures in history, but I found this beat boring and the raps not as funny as usual.

31) Hulk and Macho Man vs. Kim Jong Il: Amusing costumes, but didn't find the raps interesting.

32) Columbus vs. Captain Kirk: Perhaps it's just my disdain for Star Trek, but I never got into this one.

33) Ben Franklin vs. Billy Mays: Not memorable.  I can't even quote a line.

1 comment: