[4] The popularity of the music videos has led to mainstream partnerships, such as with Ubisoft, using the "Blackbeard vs. Al Capone" episode to promote Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

[9] Although early episodes of the series featured only Shukoff and Ahlquist, later episodes have regularly featured guest appearances from internet celebrities including Dan Bull, Lisa Donovan, Timothy DeLaGhetto, George Watsky, DeStorm Power, Jesse Wellens, PewDiePie, Jenna Marbles, Lilly Singh, Ray William Johnson, Rhett & Link, and Smosh.

Media celebrities like musicians Snoop Dogg, Chali 2na, T-Pain, Jackie Tohn and "Weird Al" Yankovic, actors J.

B. Smoove and Gary Anthony Williams, and the comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have also appeared in the series.

On July 3, 2013, "Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney" became the first of its singles to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.

10 other singles, "Adolf Hitler vs. Darth Vader", "Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking", "Dr. Seuss vs. William Shakespeare", "Master Chief vs. Leonidas", "Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates", "Justin Bieber vs. Ludwig van Beethoven", "Mario Brothers vs. Wright Brothers", "Mr. T vs. Mr. Rogers", "Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris", and "Adolf Hitler vs. Darth Vader 2", were subsequently certified Gold as well.

[11] Before the web series existed on YouTube, Shukoff and Ahlquist recorded their first song, which was a battle between Child's Play antagonist Chucky and actor Michael J.

On September 26, 2010, the first rap battle was uploaded to YouTube, featuring Shukoff as John Lennon and Ahlquist as Bill O'Reilly.

Shukoff and Maker Studios also created the official website for the series,[15] where fans could vote on winners for each video, and read short comical autobiographies by each character.

On September 9, 2013, ERB uploaded a trailer video on their channel announcing that Epic Rap Battles of History would return on October 7, 2013 for a third season.

[20][21] On October 14, ERB released a second video with Ahlquist voicing Theodore Roosevelt, who announced the upcoming season's schedule.

[33] On May 28, 2021, the ERB Twitter account announced a new episode to be released on June 14, featuring EpicLLOYD as legendary Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok and Nice Peter as English King Richard the Lionheart.

[34] On November 27, 2021, ERB released a new rap battle episode, titled Jeff Bezos vs. Mansa Musa on their YouTube channel.

George Watsky portrayed one character in each of the first three seasons, namely William Shakespeare, the Fourth Doctor, and Edgar Allan Poe.

The online creator duo Rhett & Link have portrayed three characters each, including the Wright brothers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and Donatello and Leonardo da Vinci.

The comedy duo Key & Peele have portrayed opposing figures in "Gandhi vs. Martin Luther King Jr." and "Michael Jordan vs. Muhammad Ali".

Other people with two appearances throughout the series include Kimmy Gatewood, Timothy DeLaGhetto, Ray William Johnson, Dan Bull, KRNFX, and Wax.