Top 5 Epic Rap Battles of History. Critical Analysis by Mat4yo 

One thing I love about the Jack the Ripper VS Hannibal Lecter battle is their body language. Dan Bull is frantic, with violent movements and intimidating stances, imitating Jack the Ripper's violent, disgusting murders. Epic Lloyd, on the other hand, is slow, deliberate, and often quite still, which imitates Hannibal Lecter's more methodical murders, as well as his intelligence and cultured tastes (he may be a cannibal, but he eats human flesh as part of a gourmet meal). Absolutely brilliant.

Catherine: This whole battle's like Alaska cause I settled it *cut* Matt: But then you get more than you asked for. *cut* Ivan: MMM

I really like artists vs tmnt purely for the artists. I dont think it was a great rap battle though because it was extremely one sided even in the lengths of their verses. I dont think the turtles were done justice.

Jack vs Hannibal is also my top fav. Dan bulls lines blow me away every time but that "bon vivant of violence" line is mental! Such a beautiful line.

DAMN IT! I'm trynna do homework, but I can't resist Chisel This :(

13:10 Mat.exe has stopped working

FINA-FUCKING-LLY

3:28 I wouldn’t say no similarities Mr. T did a lot for children’s entertainment later in his career

Fully agree with your picks, especially #1. I've probably rewatched Jack v Hannibal more than any other battle. It was such a departure from what they normally do and they did a fantastic job of coming outside of their comfort zone. Also, it has the sickest beat they have EVER used!

#5 Lewis & Clarke vs. Bill & Ted: My favorite two on two. Both sides have really solid disses and the background music is, dare I say, excellent. #4 James Bond vs. Austin Powers: I love the contrast in styles between all of the opponents. Modern Bond is sophisticated and tough, classic Bond is distinguished but doesn't take himself too seriously, and Powers is just a wacky zany sex machine. By the far best music of series as well. #3 Rasputin vs. Stalin: This is one of the first battles where more than just the two fought, and the array of characters is brilliant. This crash course of Russia in the 20th and 21st captures the whole spectrum, Pre revolution with Rasputin, the revolution with Lenin, the early Soviet Union with Stalin, the collapse of the U.S.S.R. with Gorbachev, and modern Russia with Putin. #2 Alexander the Great vs. Ivan the Terrible: This is the only one that me and Mat both have in top five, and it's pretty much the same reasons. This is Peter's best role yet, and the other ones are excellent as well. Alexander plays the great mighty warrior, Frederick the quick spitting king with a sick flute solo, Catherine is the empress who trumps them all, and Ivan is quite simply, terrible in the best way possible. #1 and my personal favorite, Theodore Roosevelt vs. Winston Churchill: two of my favorite historical figures of all time. This is Lloyd's finest role so far, and Dan's portrayal of Churchill is absolutely brilliant! The second best background music and some of the hardest hitting lines of the series make for a amazing battle!

Im Suprised Dr Seuss Vs William Shakespere wasnt on here, Thats just one of my personal favorites because its the first ERB i ever saw and was just so impressed by Watskys Performance, And I Still Think its one of the best

My Top 10 ERBs (So far) 10. Trump VS Clinton - Great overall cover on the 2016 election, though Lincoln was eh 9. Jack VS Lecter - Overall great suspense and liveliness of Lecter 8. Newton VS Nye - Weird Al nuff said 7. Gates VS Jobs - Covers the entire Mac VS PC wars which I grew up with along with a fantastic twist 6. Mario Bros VS Wright Bros - Overall Catchy and Impossible not to have fun to 5. GhostBusters VS MythBusters - Jamie and Adam contain the best flow in any battle with their first verse 4. Artists VS TMNT - Overall enjoyment though short, Smosh did awesome and hopefully might guest again 3. Hitchcock VS Spielberg - As a huge Movie Buff (along with going to a career as one) I admire the styles they use for the directors in a great cinematic taste 2. East VS West - Greatness between the philosophies and even better with them fighting for themselves 1. Henson VS Lee - My childhood in a nutshell, Jim Henson being in a battle at least, a fantastic beat, only battle to make me actually cry, awesome story, a great Disney, and I got to perform this battle with Peter and Lloyd at a concert.

see you next year for the 5 ERBs you would've made differently heh

These videos make me love ERB even more and I didn't even know that was possible. I thought I was pretty deep with analysing the lyrics, tones and backgrounds, but you're on another level. Brilliant video mate 👏👏

But...but...G.R.R. Martin vs G.R.R. Tolkien?

Thanks for checking out my Top 5 List! Don't forget to leave a comment and watch my newest rap here! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-I5gBorr_4vw.html Want your name on the bookshelf? All patrons right now get their names on a book binder! Join the Chiseler's School for writing help and more content! www.patreon.com/mat4yo I know that Hitler is one of Lloyd's trademark characters but I think he played Teddy to the ERB brand better.

"What's your top 5 ERB?" Oh boy This should be fun I have no definitive fifth place battle. There are so many good ones that I can't even decide what to pick as the final place of the top tier, so I've got some candidates instead: Jack the Ripper vs Hannibal Lecter, East vs West, Lewis & Clark vs Bill & Ted, and Shaka Zulu vs Julius Caesar. Number 4 would go to Deadpool vs Boba Fett. I didn't think ERB would ever actually get around to using Deadpool, favorite comic book character btw, and he ends up getting used before Spidey, Wolvy, and Hulk. I was worried they wouldn't even pull the character off properly, but then when it came out, it was the most perfect way ERB could've pulled off Deadpool. And they even managed to give Boba Fett, someone with little material to work with, his solo battle, and it especially makes up for the terrible Boba usage in Vader vs Hitler 3. James Bond vs Austin Powers takes the number three spot. I was never actually big on the matchup of Bond vs Powers, nor was I into Bond vs Bond (unless it was actors being portrayed rather than just James Bond), but this definitely made up for the not so good matchup. The portrayals, lyrics, visuals, and especially the instrumental, make it all work so well. If only ERB could've keep the trend of bad matchup good battle when they decided to waste Banner and Wonder Woman. Ash Ketchum vs Charles Darwin! I choose you! After the last time ERB used an anime character in Goku vs Superman, this one scared me at first. I really didn't want it to end up like Goku vs Superman because I felt like it left a lot to be desired. But this battle was almost perfect. Visuals, Pokemon, acting, topkek cameos of Team Rocket and Alolan Exeggutor. The only gripes I have are Ash stopping the beat of the battle, and no Squirtle cameo, though the second one is just cause Squirtle has been and always will be my favorite Pokemon. I feel like this battle might have been number one had it been closer to the version you have on SoundCloud. My number one ERB is... Tony Hawk vs Wayne Gretzky. A sports battle is the favorite of someone who dislikes sports. Not the first time. Armstrong vs Ruth was my favorite for quite a while. I've loved all three sports battles. This one just has everything I want in a battle. Extremely nice camera work and choreography, a great beat, nice costumes and acting, and it has my favorite line of the entire series: "You'll be speechless after three periods like an ellipsis!" Also, it's fun to have unexpected wildcard battles, which ERB has given us several times over.

Loved the KNAWLEDGE you dropped, can't believe its taken me this long to subscribe. Can't wait to peep ur newest album

I love that editing trick you did with the transition from Nietzsche to Voltaire

Dude, you are super cool and informed. Right on.

Your channel is amazing! It has really inspired me to start learning rap!

I am so impressed with your critical analyses. You and ERB have given me a whole new perspective on rapping. My top 5 Epic Rap Battles, however, were not decided using the analytical and eloquent precision that you have used. I've made my picks solely on the basis of which ones have stuck with me the most - the ones I have listened to several times in a row and have even learned a few bars. Honorable mentions: Mozart vs. Skrillex, Adam vs. Eve, and Trump vs. Clinton 5. Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates - I liked the playful word-play and the HAL-9000 verse was a killer 4. J.R.R Tolkien vs. George R.R Martin - I liked the mixture of smart and cynical writing and dopey humor. 3. Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child - One of the most memorable to me for the rhythm of the line delivery and the pure brilliance of both Ramsay's disses and Child's delivery. 2. Alexander the Great vs. Ivan the Terrible - For the same reasons you described. 1. Wonder Woman vs. Stevie Wonder - I have to say, I'm partial to singing raps and Stevie's part is the perfect mixture of high energy cynical fire and playfulness. Wonder Woman's first verse, in particular, is so smooth and brutal, and I love how it crescendos from a growling beginning to a powerful climax. Oh, and it has my favorite instrumental track of the series. I know my choices are rather weird, but you like what you like I guess.

Love your way of analizing the ERBs, learning pretty much about why those battles are as good and entertaining (and well written) as they are.

5. Che Guevara VS Guy Fawkes 4. Stephen King VS Edgar Allen Poe 3. Shaka Zulu VS Julius Caesar 2. Deadpool VS Boba Fett 1. Blackbeard VS Al Capone

I checked out your rap and its really deep like you said! I went and bought it finally too! Keep up the hard work!

Happy to see that you finally did this! (I know i'm late to the party!!), the last 2 were pretty obviously the some of best episodes they've ever put together, especially the Hannibal vs Jack one. Just so many clever, quick and devastating verses... And the perfectly executed atmosphere is the icing on the cake for me!

Nice analysis! My top 5 is practically the same as yours, but I'll post it regardless: 5) Roosevelt vs Churchill - This and Zulu vs Ceaser are the two battles I would show to someone to introduce them to the series, providing they're not super-invested in another character. It's very funny, has fantastic visuals, but does almost leave me wanting more from these figures. As we know so many minor things about their lives, I know it's literally impossible to include everything, but given how well they have included minor details in Season 5 [ex/ Alexander the Great], I was kinda sad watching it the first time when the "WHO WON?" came up. No jokes about Churchill's having lost an election mid-peace conference in 1945, nor any mentions of his early opposition to appeasement, etc. It's still fantastic, but I had unrealistic expectations that never really went away. 4) Eastern vs Western Philosophy - same reasons you outlined. It shows the thinking behind these figures in an amusing way, with the added turning inwards as a welcome additional touch. Plus it ended with "WHAT IS WINNING?" That was nice. 3) Zeus vs Thor - the wordplay in this one is fantastic, plus it makes a strong comparison between the two ancient cultures the combatants come from. I even like this battle's demo more then some of their published battles - "flipping more middle fingers at you then a hundred hander" is hilarious. Probably the battle I come back most to listen to as a solely audio experience. 2) Romeo and Juliet vs Bonnie and Clyde - same reasons you outlined, plus this was definitely my most-wanted battle before its release. Everyone represented in it are fascinating and are definitely given justice through the performances - it was one of the only battles featuring characters I know quite well where I wasn't mildly disappointed by some obscure thing not being mentioned. 1) Alexander vs Ivan - same reasons you outlined, plus as a History major, I got all the jokes way sooner then in the some of the more pop-culture based battles. I won't pretend there isn't bias there. It's an all-around **great** battle. Honourable Mentions: Frederick Douglass v. Thomas Jefferson - as an ERB, this one is deservedly disliked. It doesn't really depict the two figures battling, and as you laid out in your episode on it, Jefferson's first verse of wordplay is randomly replaced with him kowtowing to Douglass for the second. HOWEVER, while it fails as a battle to me, as a depiction of historical figures, I actually kinda love it. I can imagine that if someone who cares about reputation as much as Jefferson found out his legacy would be tainted by his somewhat passive participation in slavery, he would respond very much like how he did in the battle ["Look at all the stuff I did, and I did fight to end the slave trade sometimes, so can't we just let this one thing go!"]. From a rap battle perspective, it is a terrible approach and incredibly biased, and I do really like your re-write as well, but something about Jefferson's desperation to be liked comes across as authentically Jefferson to me. Mario Brothers v. Wright Brothers - okay, this one isn't that great. It's cute, it has some good lines, but it's not amazing. However, this was the battle that launched my ERB obsession. As ever since this battle, I have seen every ERB on its release date, if not having listened to it sooner. So, I have a love for it in a weird recent-history-nostalgia kinda way. Anyway, that's my ramblings done. Nice video as always. Take as long as you need for the bottom 5/ones you would rewrite - I'm excited to see how your album turns out more then I am for your rewriting ERBs.

Great video - and I totally understand why Jack vs Hannibal is your favourite. It's one of mine as well, but for a completely different reason. I want to see you collaborate with Adam Purski and Mancha or UBERocity!

yeah. really agree with your choices. Good selections.

About time someone recognizes the Western Philosophers vs. Eastern Philosophers. That one was so well done.

FINALLY. FINALLY. FINALLY. Gotta do my end of the deal now, lel. Supporting you on patreon as soon as I get my Adsense paycheck.

I've been waiting for this

The battle that you think is the best is my favorite one! Cool

Ripper and Lector gave this video two dislikes.

They are going to make more. Lloyd said it in his Instagram livestream

I always thought I was in the minority for keeping Hannibal Lector vs Jack the Ripper at the top of my list, so it was awesome to see it at the top of yours! Lyrically, it is amazing, and I am haunted by Epic Lloyd's performance as Lector. And as always, you pointed out other wonderful aspects that I never noticed before. Keep up the great work!

Yes this is pretty much what everyone has wanted, thank you good sir~

Interesting take on things. I found your stuff via ERBs behind the scenes stuff. I love the Philsophers and Jordan/Ali. I enjoy Lecter/Ripper but wouldn't put it on top. I'd put Philosphers there, with Jordan/Ali behind it. I'd fill it out with Roosevelt/Churchill, Artists/TMNT, and Leonidas/Master Chief.

I'm glad I found your channel, man.

Dang, I'm in the making of a Top 15 ERB's, guess you beat me to it, I'm still making it though. XD

14:00 Honestly I feel *exactly* the same about that "Space Jam" line.

Can't wait to see where this goes.

Great video man! Love watching your content, what mic are you using there?

i really didn't expected most of this raps, but i actually love the ripper vs hannibal go on with your chisels and own raps, you're in a good way!

Ok. I like the cut of your jib, kid. I've watched a number of these analysis videos of erb and I I gotta tell ya.... you talked me into appreciating a few rap battles that apparently I was too quick to dismiss. Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali for example. These videos are great. Intensly intellectual comedy where you break down and analyize a subject is one of my favorite forms of education and comedy. I am surprised to see Roosevelt vs Churchill not number one, considering this is 2017. That is one of my top five. Along with Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs, Musk vs Zuckerberg, Rick Grimes vs Walter White, The Philosophers, and of course one that leaves me in awe everytime, I can't even stand it I love it so much, The Joker vs Pennywise. Ok I guess it would be my top six when you put Roosevelt and Churchill in there. I might just make it an even ten. Guy Fawkes vs Che Guevara, The Ghostbusters vs The Mythbusters, Rasputin vs Stalin, and Julius Ceaster vs Ivan the Terrible. .. Those guys are amazing. The way they can BECOME a character like that is ... beyond words to even express. I am awed. Pretty sure people like Nice Peter and Epic Lloyd are the reasons space aliens haven't destroyed us yet. Because humans can be INCREDILBY artisist AND funny. Treasures. Keep these up. I haven't exhausted your library yet, but I am getting there. Well done.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, a collab between you and Dan would be amazing! I'd love to see you try and tackle the lyrical content of some of his bigger or more interesting songs, if you ever get the time!

I was really surprised about your number one, to be honest. Btw, nice job noticing the lack of blinking in it, something I never realized myself. My top 5 would probably be (in no specific order): Roosevelt vs Churchill, Spielberg vs Hitchcock, Vader vs Hitler 2, Santa vs Moses and Billy Mays vs Ben Franklin. Runner ups would probably be Tesla vs Edison, Stevie Wonder vs Wonder Woman, Stan Lee vs Henson, Martin vs Tolkien, Romeo/Juliet vs Bonnie/Clyde and Bond vs Powers. Oh boy, didn't mean to write so many down, but there are sooooo many good ones!

I personally put Boba Fett V.S. DeadPool at number one and here's why With Deadpool they got the personality perfect cause there are many variations made of him, batinthesun's Deadpool is mediocre and has some pretty stupid moments. In the Deadpool movie they got the personality perfectly, I mean when the part came when he cut off his hand and left it as a middle finger is something he would do, and in ERB they got the personality well in these ways 1- the simple things he does like pretend to do his makeup 2- his line about the "missle backpack" was something he would do where he would break the whole complexity in the battle for a single funny line 3- his carnival form was just hilarious 4- they made him wear stuff like an Elvis costume which would be stupid in the movie, but in the battle was just right For Boba Fett 1-'they made a character that can't show any emotion like Deadpool can with his mask have a lot more than you would think is possible 2- they made him pull out heavy things like the rip off lines from the get-go to show he's not messing around 3- they made the dancing look fitting 4- they showed why he's loved so much by simply having him say he can destroy Deadpool with no problem as he launches a missle to just get a kill without hassle

I can only imagine how ecstatic you were when epic Lloyd and nice peter approached you for help on their videos, but I can really see why they chose to contact you, they definitely seem to do that a lot, and boy has it paid dividend's, (or at least I assume it has) for not only the quality of their videos, but also the... wow factor of seeing them in their videos. (Which brings me to a request... do you think you could do a top 5 cameo of people who showed up in rap battles? Like the Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali... or that one with Rhett and Link.) - I am listening to the cool and warm single now, and I am sure i'll have something to say on the matter, but I really have no idea what, or if I can add anything to the subject/philosophy you have in the video, I am not saying I will be looking for things to comment on/nitpick, but yea I'll definitely try to comment more than just 'great job mat!' xD. (Don't be surprised if this comment and that comment are hours apart, I know it isn't a long video, but my adhd likes to kick in from time to time.... use to take medicine to help me concentrate, and it isn't as bad as it once was, but yea distractions happen as I am sure you know.) Anyways I digress, I really enjoy your breakdowns of the ERB's, and while I admit I haven't seen every single one, (therefore I really can't say which one's are my favorite, .. I guess I could but I would prefer to see them all before committing to one of them being my favorite, and while the ones I have seen/listened to aren't all in one specific season, it is however riddled throughout their 5 seasons, I am subbed to them, but I haven't had the time to go back and watch them all, which is something that I wish to do... especially after watching your videos.) I have seen quite a few, at least a season and a half or so, honestly when they first started i used youtube for a majority of my music listening, I may have even seen a couple of their videos thanks to that, but it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I learned youtube had a much more... unique side to it with people such as yourself making other type of videos for it. (It wasn't just a platform for music or the random compilation video, which had cute dog videos. xD) - To be honest I am not much of a rap fan, ergo the recommendation feed of my youtube didn't show their videos much if at all, but the first one I did see created by them did in fact sub to them because of it, I can't say now which one it was that made me sub to them either.

"when you came back a wizard like gandalf the black" this is one of those lines that i forget every single time and laugh like an idiot when I hear it again

I certainly don't put the kind of thought behind these things that you do, but the top ERBs in my opinion (in no particular order) are Gates vs Jobs, Romney vs Obama, Shakespeare vs Seuss, Wright Bros vs Mario Bros, Mozart vs Skrillex, Ghostbusters vs. Mythbusters, Boba Fett vs. Deadpool, and Stevie W vs Wonder W.All of these are so expertly written, and each possessing a prominent strength (e.g. puns, rhymes, references, etc), and I find myself constantly rapping on of them to myself. And many of them I knew nothing about one or both of the opponents! They were just so well done I can't help by marvel in its creativity.

Took you long enough!! I missed your name in my sub box, bro!!

hey Mat! great job! I truly learn a lot from your videos... But I miss one battle from your top 5 mate... Don't you think that Washington vs Wallace deserved a mention? Love your job man! Cheers!!!

I was very surprised to not see Deadpool vs Boba Fett or Henson vs Lee. I also want to say it is a shame that you don't get as many views on some of your original content and if anyone is reading this stop it and watch his original music videos. I can't wait for PRB and Bart Baker Chisel This episodes. Are you still going to go through with the Current Event videos you were talking about? Keep up the good work Mat!

Do you plan to make a Top 5 Worst ERB list?

If I had to make a list I wouldn't so much view the battles from a critical standpoint. Most of my favourite battles include fictional characters although I do appriciate a lot of the historical ones (like Zulu vs Caesar which would have to be my #12) I'd look for the battles I enjoyed the most. My top 10 would have to be: Honorable Mention: Ghost- vs Mythbusters, Zulu vs Caesar, Ramsay vs Child, Wonder Woman vs Stevie Wonder, Columbus vs Kirk *10.* Terminator vs RoboCop: Overall a great beat and great punchlines if you know a lot about the franchises. The fact that they got Terminator HIMSELF to speak at the end really mae it for me! *9.* Bond vs Powers: I always wanted a third-party to get dissed by the characters that rapped before him. My wish was granted and I'm really glad they didn't go for Jones vs Bond because that's to basic. You'd expect Powers to have nothing against Bond because he is a copy (which Bond then says). But ERB does it in such a way that you can't help it and laugh at Powers for his great disses and the way he performs them. *8.* Spielberg vs Hitchock: What I really like about this is that every character in the royale disses Michael Bay at some point without him even being there yet (so Michael doesn't get an instant win). I think this is the cloesest battle to a tie in ERB history because Hitchcock, Terantino and Spielberg make good points but Kubrick and Bay nail it too. But if I had to decide I would give the win to Ternatino. *7.* Grimes vs White: I feel like ERB watched both of these shows regularly because otherwise they wouldn't have put in that many references. They perfectly combine dissing each other with their styles and TV shows. You might even think that Lloyd is Heisenberg himself at some point ;) *6.* Hawk vs Gretzky: I didn't even know Gretzky before this battle came out but ERB made me learn so much about him that Iactually consider watching Ice Hockey now (although he doesn't really play anymore). The terrific beat and the awesome flow within the lines and the fact that I love Tony Hawk makes this the best Season 5 battle for me! *5.* Deadpool vs Boba Fett: One line made the entire battle jump up about three spots: "I'm a legend, you're a trend". Mind blown and Nerd factor OVER 9000! How can you not love this battle if you're a giant Star Wars and SciFi lover like me? The beat is probably the best in ERB history and the body actors did a great job with all of the dance moves thrown in. *4.* Hawking vs Einstein: My biggest idols facing each other in a rap battle O.o At first I thought I would be triggered by everything they said about each other but it turns out there is a lot more to diss someone about that has to do with physics in general. Hawking is the perfect to be in a rap battle as well! You would expect that nobody could pull off someone like him but Peter did it and I remember it as one of his best roles. *3.* Lee vs Henson: My childhood in a nutshell! The tension between Henson and Lee is such a big one. And the fact that Disney ruins everything is GREAT! It describes how much I love Disney for taking over the planet. Kermit has some great lines too and the backgrounds are beautiful. *2.* Doc Brown vs Doctor Who: You probably saw this one coming because of my username. Not only is BTTF my favourite movie but Doctor Who is one of my favourite TV shows. That means that facing each other, someone like me should be able to get every single reference... and there are TONS OF THEM. I ended up writing down every line that had a reference to one of the series: 90% xD Nerd battles are the best which would also explain my #1! *1.* Newton vs Nye: Not just because of Weird Al but because of EVERYTHING. This battle does everything right from the moment it starts! Newton has awesome lines. After that: Nweton gets his ass kicked and after that Nye gets his ass kicked. And then ERB has the nerve to bring in Neil just to mess with us nerds and Peters performance is just terrific. I liked every single piece of this and want thi9s battle to never be forgotten! What do you think?

I'm surprised Henson vs Lee wasn't at least an honourable mention, I feel the way it presents the systematic and unforgiving machine known as Hollywood (and furthermore the entertainment genre) is so brutal through Walt Disney's clear lack of empathy in his rapping. I would've placed it in between Ruth vs Armstrong and Roosevelt vs Churchill. I completely agree with your top five though, Ripper vs Lecter is my favourite battle of the entire series full stop. Awesome Chisel This episode Mat4yo!

Although I would have changed the order of a couple, the list is actually very good in general. But there is without doubt one I think you missed out which in my opinion deserved top 5 - Al Capone VS Blackbeard. The lines were phenomenal and so was the wordplay etc, the acting/voice acting were very well done with the accents etc, the visuals were great as well. It was truly a great battle. Perhaps a little under appreciated. But the number 1 choice on your list was, in my opinion, the correct choice and the list did make quite a bit of sense with your reasoning. Good video in general.

we've waited 8,888,888,888,888 years for this. Worth it, thanks dude.

I like your background

How you discribed Ivan The Terrible reminds on The Major from Hellsing Ultimate quite a bit.

You should make a video on Jack the Ripper vs. Hannibal Lecter! It was very good and you seem to agree!

I pretty much agree with your list, except for Romeo & Juliet Vs. Bonnie & Clyde. I see the lyricism, storytelling, and fitting match-up now, the first two mainly because I just heard you explain them. But when I listened to it, it was just kinda meh to me. Personally, I would've put Artists Vs. Turtles, Bill Nye Vs. Isaac Newton, or probably a few others I can't recall right now above that one. Your other choices though, spot-on.

Waited ages for thos

in 2019 peter put out his list of his favorite rap battles and the philosophy 3 on 3 was has absolute favorite

Oh I thought this was a top 5 list of your best chisel this's

My top 5 ERBs (I know I'm hella late, and you probably won't see this, Mat, but this video was only recommended to me just now): #5: *Spielberg vs. Hitchcock* I don't have a definitive fifth place, but I have a soft spot for this one because each verse perfectly conveys each director's style, and I've never seen any Tarantino, Kubrick, or Bay films. (I've seen two Hitchcock films, North by Northwest and Rear Window, but I don't remember them well, and only one Spielberg film, ET.) Not to mention Peter as Michael Bay...I just love it. (*Favorite line:* "Quentin Tarantino is a...genius/A bad motherfucker from the wallet to the penis". I just love Wax's delivery.) #4: *Tony Hawk vs. Wayne Gretzky* I LOVE the battles where one character is super worked up and the other one is really quiet and reserved. The flow was perfect, the performances were perfect, and the references were perfect, even though I don't care about sports at all. Plus this is the last battle to date that Zach was in and I really miss him. (*Favorite line:* "You'll be speechless after three periods like an ellipsis!" INSANELY clever line that only Zach could write.) #3: *Stephen King vs. Edgar Allan Poe* Remember how I said I love the "super worked up vs. super chill" battles? This is the best of them all. I've never read any Stephen King and out of Poe's works, I've only read "The Raven", but I understood every single reference in the lyrics. Zach and George were both perfect as always and I know they're really successful, but I miss them both so much in ERBs. (*Favorite line:* "Fame, money, talent, success?/You'll always have less--never more!" That is my current favorite line in the whole show.) #2: *Ivan the Terrible vs. Alexander the Great* My favorite battle is honestly a tie between this and my #1, but I have to put them in some order. This battle is the one that I learned the most from; it's the one that best showcases that not only is the show incredibly fun and clever, it's also educational. These people DO THEIR RESEARCH. (*Favorite line:* Alexander the Great's entire verse--the best verse in the show, do @ me.) #1: *Eastern Philosophers vs. Western Philosophers* Yeah, this one's an obvious pick, but it's an obvious pick for a reason. Not only are the lines well researched, not only are the performances perfect, not only is this a battle where everyone in the battle was involved with the writing process, but this battle has an impeccable story. I immediately thought the Western Philosophers were going to lose, because they're a lot more hot-blooded (Nietzsche), traditionalist (Socrates) and egocentric (Voltaire) than the Eastern Philosophers, who are calm (Lao Tzu), pragmatic (Sun Tzu), and sensible (Confucius). Sun Tzu turning the Western Philosophers against each other was genius, of course, but when he gets so wrapped up in his own ideas that he refuses to listen to Lao Tzu or Confucius is what really subverted my expectations and what cements this battle as the best. (*Favorite line:* Um...can I say all of them?)

Dan Bull's Jack the Ripper may be my single favorite character in all of ERB (Ivan the Terrible being a close second). I really love his rhyming style and the aggressive way in which he delivers his lines. Besides those two battles, my favorites also include R&J vs B&C, the Directors Royale (specially Hitchcock's verse), Capone vs Blackbeard, Gates vs Jobs and Western vs Eastern Philosophers. I also like Einstein vs Hawking a lot but it's still too "amateur-ish" to be in my top I guess. Oh, and I would like to know your thoughts on Trump vs Scrooge, because that battle receives very little love but I really like its narrative, flow and character portrayals.

Wow! Number one was my absolute favourite one when it came out, great video! my top 5 1-West. v East. Philosophers 2-Alexander the great v ivan the terrible 3-Goku v superman 4-Barack Obama v Mitt romney 5-Churchill v Roosevelt

5. Roosevelt vs Churchill 4. The election battles 3. Jobs vs Gates 2. Ripper vs Lecter 1. Henson vs Lee

When do announcer says Hannibal Lecter! I love how Hannibal looks down at the camera at the left but up to the camera on the right,visually stimulating xd

I think I agree with all the stylistic points you made on Ripper vs Lecter, but I never really liked this battle. Part of it is my bias that I hate horror films, so I know I'm not being entirely fair. But I also felt that giving Lecter lines that straight up told Ripper his rapping mistakes broke my suspension of disbelief for the battle and made things a bit too one-sided. What do you think?

Five years later and we still don’t have a Worst ERB list from this dude

My top 5 ERBs, funny enough sharing a few similarities with yours: 5. Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali 4. Tony Hawk vs Wayne Gretzky 3. Jack the Ripper vs Hannibal Lecter 2. James Bond vs Austin Powers 1. Ash Ketchum vs Charles Darwin Of course, my list was just formed based on which ones I subjectively enjoyed the most in my first several viewings and haven't gotten tired of rewatching, rather than your more analytical approach.

If only you could collab with *anyone* who reaches out (IE: me in this passive-suggestive comment) in your new album, that would be super cool to see ;)

YES- good call Mat4yo!!!! I agree 100% about Jack the Ripper vs. Hannibal Lecter :-)

Very nice list and i really love the way you explain your opinion. My top 5: 1. Stephen King vs Edgar Allan Poe 2. Jack the Ripper vs Hannibal Lecter 3. George RR Martin vs JRR Tolkien 4. Eastern vs Western Philossophers 5. TMNT vs Artists

What would you say the match up should be if erb ever made an animated rap battle

I agree 100% on the number one! I love that battle

I have some ideas for matchups but I cannot write so that sucks but I'd really love to see them made

man I can't belive Leonidas and master chef wasn't in here! Also, wouldn't you say that Steven king vs Edgar Allen Poe has the same inverted idea as jack the ripper and hannibal lector? I feel like they both have the dark feel to them, and they both invert the normal scheme of how ERB normally does their videos.

So happy with your number 1 choice

When you write do you write the words before you find a beat or do you find a beat and write to it?

17:50 Did the lighting on you change for a bit there?

are you gonna do 5 worst rap battles too?

Michael Jackson vs Elvis Presley, Blackbeard vs Al Capone, Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali, Zues vs Thor, Deadpool vs Boba Fett. Not in any particular order would be my top 5 mainly the punchlines were simple but hard hitting. While I also like a lot of your top list I either had to watch them multiple times to get the jokes or do research on them because I knew little about them and since your likely to find something funnier if you get it straight away this lead me to pick battles with characters I knew about. As for my favourite line it has to be 'You're the worst thing to happen to magic since the gathering' since it indirectly stung me pretty badly

we need a redoing of this video

My favourite one is Rasputin vs Stalin.Pleasse do an analysis of that one.

Bruh you know this man gets a 100 on every single essay he takes

I remember Jack vs Hannibal was the first match up that genuinely scared me when I first watched it

My top 5? Sure, why not! 5: Bruce Lee vs Clint Eastwood 4: Stan Lee vs Jim Henson (almost entirely because of Disney's takeover) 3: Wright Bros. vs Mario Brothers 2: East vs West philosophy 1: Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs

4:58 "The question is who do you Ruth for?" Clever.

Yo dude when is ERB Season 6 going to come out?

I'm surprised to not see Roosevelt vs Churchill on the top 5. Also I never understood how Lector vs Jack is seen as the best by many. I could never get behind it. Great list.

5:23 Just a quick note that shaka zulu wasn't an ancient leader, he lived in the late 1700's to early 1800's

Hey, Mat, what would you think of a battle between Pennywise (by Stephen King) vs Ronald McDonald? The CLOWNBATTLE!!!

AGREE WITH THIS LIST ENTIRELLY

Can we get links to the top 5 battles in the description?

i know Blackbeard vs Al Capone wont be on here… but i really love that battle and has remained my favorite one since it first came out. some have challenged it in my mind, but that is the personal favorite of mine. im interested what people think is the best finale/midseason finale for each season

Do top 5 most underrated erb's