>>ALEX: *Mumbling as Music Plays* Epic Rap Battles of History
Alex From Technicality
Vs.
Matt from Conjecture
Vs.
Jabril from SEFD Science
Begin!
>>ALEX: *Rapping* Yo, I’m Alex from Technicality and I make videos that teach ya!
And even though I’m younger than both of you, in this rap battle I’m gonna beat ya!
Matt Mignogna?
I’m gonna own ya, with my dope skills of rap, and Jabril?
Are you still making prank videos, or just taking a long nap?
>>MATT: *Rapping* Hey!
What’s up?
I’m Matt, and I’m here to say while other the rappers nappin’ you can watch me play
this game, the same lame aim: get up in that fame, end of the video you’ll proclaim my
name.
My channel’s Conjecture, and it’s all about learning and science and passion and
fire and burning.
These rhymes too hot, I don’t even need a beat.
*Does some savage beatboxing.* Retweet.
>>JABRIL: *Rapping* Conjecture, Conjecture, let me give you a lecture, the cutout effect,
man, that’s my texture.
And Technicality?
Hum, that’s a fallacy, cuz’ technically, Nickel, you can’t see me.
Uh. 8 bars.
Shoutout to Pepto Bismol y’all.
>>ALEX: *Mumbling* Who won?
Who’s next?
You decide!
Epic Rap
*Coughs and clears throat*
>>ALEX: Ugg, excuse me, sorry.
*Speaks Clearly* Epic Rap Battles of History
Thumbs-up for a mini rap battle?
Hey Guys, I’m here, let’s get technical.
If you have ever seen the YouTube channel Epic Rap Battles of History, then you know
their videos can be, well...
*Montage of Epic Rap Battle Clips* (subtitles on screen)
But ERB has over 13.8 million subscribers, and their most-viewed
video has about 127 Million views, yes you heard me right, 127 million, so they’ve
got to be doing something right.
And, yea, I could talk about the art of rap music and rhyme, or how you can actually learn
a ton about video production by watching their behind-the-scene videos
Seriously, if you haven’t watched an ERB video, the production quality is astounding,
but that’s not what I’m going to talk about today.
Today I’m going to talk about something that Middle-Schoolers will smile upon for
ages: my theory that Epic Rap Battles of History can be taught in classrooms.
>>ANNOYING GIRL: OMG dude from technicality, we can just sit and watch Epic Rap Battles
all day!!
Where can I sign up?
>>ALEX: Ok, sorry to say, but it’s a little different from that.
Actually, on the surface, there’s a lot to like here.
Though they don’t cite sources, Epic Rap Battles seem to be correct through the minimal
fact checking I did, and it’s a great way to incorporate blended learning into the classroom
and make kids more interested and intrigued in the subject they are learning.
If you want to learn more about blended learning, check out episode 6, you can click the “i”.
Warning, I am very young in the video.
It was made in 2014.
Ok!
That being said, Epic Rap Battles can have lots and lots and lots of cursing and other
various inappropriate things, so that’s not exactly ideal for a classroom.
So I’m not suggesting kids watching these videos all day, oh no, what I am proposing
is that students make their own, factually correct, Epic Rap Battles of History.
Now right now, the kids who are watching this are probably like
YAAAAY!!!
Par-ty par-ty parrrrrty!!!
And I bet the parents and teachers are like
WHAT THE HECK IS THIS DUDE THINKING!!!!!????? IS HE REALLY PROPOSING MY PRECIOUS KID MAKE
ONE OF THOSE HORRIFIC THINGS??
He calls himself an educator...
Ok, e, everyone just calm down.
Let me explain.
Making realistic epic rap battles of history teaches multiple skill sets, including:
One.
History.
This one’s pretty obvious.
Students research two people from the same time period to make their Rap Battle.
Kids would pretty much have to make a mini bio on each person; it would be an awesome
way to learn about important historical figure.
>>ANNOYING GIRL: Oh, but can you give us an example of that?
What do ya know, I can?
Huh.
It’s neat how things work out.
*laughs a bit* So, now, I want to take a sec and give a great example of how to incorporate
history, into an epic rap battle.
Let’s take my favorite Epic Rap Battle of History line, something “Alexander
the Great” said to “Ivan the Terrible.”
UHHH (takes deep breath), Hey fella, swell dis.
But now you got the panhellenist from Pella hella pissed.
Stepping up’s foolish as well as useless little Vasilyevich let me spell out the list.
When I heard that line for the first time, I was like ahhh (overfreakingjoyed).
Not only does that line have such good flow and rhythm, it also teaches you a lot about
history.
You learn...
Alexander the Great is a panhellenist, or a guy who believes in the unification of all
Greeks.
Alex is from Pella, a city in Greece.
Ivan the Terrible’s last name is Vasilyevich.
And finally, the line hints at the fact the Alexander controlled a great, great army,
he says stepping up is foolish and useless, and, actually, later in the rap, Alexander
the Great says that he won “every single war that I fought.”
Oh, by the way, his name is Alexander, we are first name buddies! Alexander’s unite!
What is this, like the 3rd time we’ve had another Alexander in my video, we talk about
a lot of Alexes.
Anywho, I encourage you to check out the full rap battle by clicking that i.
Two.
Movie Making Techniques.
Students have to learn about set creation, costumes, storyboarding and shot listing,
camera operation, green screen, background and setting design, camera angles, editing,
sound design, and so much more.
This is valuable to kids because, well, it’s art.
It’s a creative outlet for kids.
There are many benefits to art education as Catherine Grytting wrote in a 2000 article,
“Art education: (1) fosters a joy of learning; (2) supports intellectual, emotional, and
social growth; (3) prepares leaders of the future; and (4) inspires students.”
Links to that study and all studies and sources, as always, in the description down below.
Three.
Music.
Obviously, in a RAP battle, making some music is going to be involved, and their are many
benefits to that.
There’s a great Ted-Ed video about the benefits playing music has on your brain, so I won’t
go too in-depth here on this, you can click the i to watch the whole video, but here’s
the jist.
Playing music engages all parts of your brain, especially the parts associated with seeing,
hearing, and fine motor movements.
Because playing music requires both hemispheres of the brain, the corpus callosum, which is
the band of nerves connecting the two halves, is strengthened.
Benefits of this include increased problem solving skills in both academic situations
and social situations.
And playing music helps better your memory.
>>ANNOYING GIRL: But wait a sec, it’s rap.
You’re not necessarily playing pianos when creating rap music.
Ok, first, you’re in this episode way too much, and second, that’s assuming you're
not playing any instruments when making your music.
But, ok, so, for the sake of argument, I’ll go on with your claim.
Maybe you’re not playing music, but still, at the very least you’re working with Garageband
and you’re creating art, and, as I discussed earlier, this has many benefits.
But now the question arises, what class would this be taught in?
History seems like the obvious choice, but since the history curriculum, wherever you
go, is usually pretty jammed packed, it may not be a good idea to distract from the usual
history program to make Rap Battles.
A second choice might be in a movie making class, but you may not have those at your
school, and even if you did, you’d have it as an elective.
But that brings up a good point, what if ERB class, was an elective?
A very fun and interesting elective, combining academics and art.
Wouldn’t it be cool if, after school, when parents ask their kids how their day was,
kids don’t just say “good,” and go on to the next thing, they actually tell their
parents about how their taking a class teaching them how to make an Epic Rap Battle.
Parents would love it because their kids are excited about history, and students would
love it because, well, they’re making a freaking Rap Battle!
Anywho, that’s where I’m going to leave you.
Tell moi in the comments below what you think of the idea of an Epic Rap Battles of History
elective.
Would you participate?
And until next time, DFTBA, subscribe, if you haven’t already, and explore on...
ERB CLIP
I want to say a huge thank you to Matt and Jabril for guest starring in the video and
taking part in my silly little project.
They’re awesome people who have awesome channels, so please check them out!
If you like what I do, you’ll love what they do over on Conjecture or
SEFD Science, links to those in the end cards somewhere on screen.
Uh, I want to close out this video by saying, I have worked on this video for over 2 years,
as you can see the history of my Google Doc, um, so yea.
I started this video about 6 months after I started Technicality, it evolved and I continued
to work on it, but I never released it, until now.
So yea.
Thank you so much!
See ya next time!
Next video will actually be the Q&A video!