Some background:
Shukoff was hungry for fresh material when, in 2010, Ahlquist described the rap battle segment in his improv show, Check One Two. Shukoff was convinced that Internet audiences would thrill to the random collisions of characters real and fictional who would only ever meet "at a party in transdimensional space."
...In what became the first installment, John Lennon threatened Bill O'Reilly, "I'll take Maxwell's Silver Hammer and give you a lobotomy," while O'Reilly retorted, "You longhair living in your yellow submarine, you're about to get sunk by the right-wing political machine." The video has gone on to reach 26.7 million views.
Thirty-two videos followed over the course of three years, including one in which rapper Snoop Dogg appeared as Moses dissing Santa Claus.
"Snoop rapped every word that we wrote," an awe-struck Shukoff says. "He Snoopified it and made it awesome."
..."Epic Rap Battles of History" — whose channel now boasts more subscribers than Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift or Skrillex — has achieved a broad audience by departing from one aspect of the traditional rap battles, in which the keen-eyed observer lambastes an opponent's appearance, reputation or background. Instead, its sketches mine humor from the oddball matchups and funny outfits, and in lampooning the foibles of well-known characters.
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