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EpicLLOYD

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Lloyd Ahlquist
Ahlquist in 2016
Ahlquist in 2016
Background information
Birth nameLloyd Leonard Ahlquist
Also known asEpicLLOYD
Born (1977-01-18) January 18, 1977 (age 47)
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Internet personality
  • comedian
  • singer
  • rapper
  • songwriter
  • producer
Years active1999–present
Spouse
Josie Hutchinson
​
(m. 2009)​
Websiteerbofhistory.com

Lloyd Leonard Ahlquist (born January 18, 1977), better known by his online alias EpicLLOYD, is an American internet personality and rapper best known for the YouTube video series Epic Rap Battles of History,[1] along with Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff.[2][3] Ahlquist has performed as an MC, actor, improviser and writer.[4] In addition to the rap battles, Ahlquist, along with Shukoff, appeared in a cameo in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

Comedy and theater

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Ahlquist was formerly the General Manager and Artistic Director of M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater.[5] Ahlquist also studied at UMass Amherst and later trained in Chicago (where he met his frequent collaborator Peter Shukoff)[6] at The Second City, Improv Olympic and Annoyance Theatre. Ahlquist was one of the founding members of Mission IMPROVable, and continues to perform with the group weekly in their show "The Grind"[7] while serving on the Board of Directors of M.i. Productions.[8] He founded the comedy troupe after dropping out of the University of Massachusetts with five classmates.[9]

In August 2014, Ahqluist hosted YouTube's first live-streamed improv comedy event, "Off the Top."[10] A trailer for "Epic Studios", a show starring Ahlquist, was released in 2015 and the first episodes were posted to his personal YouTube channel in April 2017.[11][12]

YouTube

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Ahlquist (right) performing at VidCon 2013

Solo channel

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Lloyd runs his own YouTube channel that launched on April 20, 2011. Ahlquist has a staple series on his own channel, titled "Dis Raps For Hire", which features Ahlquist taking a user-submitted comment asking Ahlquist to lyrically "destroy" or insult another person that is bullying or harassing the user.[13][14] To date, 20 "Dis Raps for Hire" have been produced. Season 2 of "Dis Raps for Hire" started on March 11, 2013.

On July 17, 2012, Lloyd's channel hit 200,000 subscribers. As a "thank you" gesture, he produced a parody of the Cinnamon challenge.[15] In 2016, Lloyd hit 400,000 subscribers. By 2021, he had 495,000 subscribers.

Starting in 2017, EpicLLOYD has also run the series Epic Studios, where he portrays a fictional version of himself as he struggles to keep the Canadian music studio he inherited from his father from being turned into condos.

Epic Rap Battles of History

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Main article: Epic Rap Battles of History

In 2010, Ahlquist partnered with singer and rapper Peter Shukoff to create Epic Rap Battles of History under Maker Studios[16] sometime after Ahlquist, Shukoff and Zach Sherwin (a guest in the rap battles), were playing Check OneTwo, a freestyle rap improv game where they took suggestions from the audience of famous people to battle rap off the top of their heads.[17] Ahlquist has played several characters in the successful[17][18] rap battles, and has specialized in playing villains such as Bill O'Reilly and Adolf Hitler.[19] Epic Rap Battles of History received four wins at the 3rd Streamy Awards, with Ahlquist receiving one of the four awards.[20] By October 2014, the rap battles accumulated a total view count of over 1 billion, excluding the hundreds of millions of views earned by the season 1 episodes.[21] As of early 2020, the Epic Rap Battle channel had over 3.4 billion view.[22]

Ahlquist (bottom right) with President Barack Obama, 2014

Personal life

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Ahlquist grew up in Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from Exeter High School.[23][24] He married Josie Hutchinson, a student affairs educator, on 18 October 2009 in Malibu.[25] They live in Los Angeles.[26][27]

Discography

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Albums

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  • Dis Raps for Hire - Season 1 (2013)
  • Here EP (2016)
  • Dis Raps for Hire - Season 2 (2018)
  • A Bad Name for Rappers (2019)

Songs

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  • Dis Raps For Hire - Charles
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Southwest High School
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Christian
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Jennifer
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Justin
  • Dis Raps For Hire - James
  • Dis Raps For Hire - William, Reshad, and Tyrance
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Daniel
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Joan
  • Gift Raps For Hire - Momma Metcalf
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Glasscock
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Jason and Ramone
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Steven, Lucas, Mark, and Nelson
  • Dis Raps For Hire - EthanAlways
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Diamond
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Jerome
  • Dis Raps For Hire - Katrina & Cheyenne
  • Dis Raps For Hire - This Guy
  • Dis Raps for Hire - Cory
  • Gift Raps for Hire - Brandon
  • The L-Verse
  • Coming Up Short
  • Pawn
  • Ninja
  • Mr. Nothing
  • I Aint Got No Watch (I Aint Got No Bling)
  • New Things
  • Holding The Seams Together
  • Scars
  • Cheap Beer
  • Space
  • Pops Over the Falls
  • Goodbye

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2010–present Epic Rap Battles of History various roles web series
2011 X-Men: First Class Rejects Prof. Doug Xavier web short
2011 The League Dr. Andre Nodick Season 3, Episode 1, "The Lockout"
2012 Ninja - Part 2 Sam Macaroni web video[28]
2012 Epic Rap Battle of Manliness Jogger Rhett and Link web video[29]
2013 Key & Peele Rap Battle Host Episode #3.1
2014 The Most Popular Girls in School Darren Darabond Episodes 50–52
2015 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Surfer Dude, Seagull
2016 Crossroads of History[30] LLOYD web series
2016 Dirty 30 Homeless Man
2021 The Mystic Crystal Knight #1 Ninja Sex Party web video[31]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Show Category Result Recipient(s)
2013 3rd Streamy Awards Best Writing: Comedy Nominated Peter Shukoff, Lloyd Ahlquist
Best Original Song Won -

References

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  1. ^ "COACH LLOYD ALQHUIST DOING IT WELL…". USS Rock N Roll. July 30, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  2. ^ Trevor Gould (January 5, 2012). "Q&A with Epic Rap Battles of History co-creator Epic Lloyd". Northern Arizona News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  3. ^ "Epic Rap Battles of History: Sherlock vs. Batman". Starpulse. November 27, 2012. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  4. ^ "About Epic Rap Battles". Epic Rap Battles of History. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  5. ^ "Ahlquist, Lloyd". Westside Comedy. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "Meet the Two YouTubers Behind Epic Rap Battles of History, Which Has Racked up More Than 2.9 Billion Views". August 2018.
  7. ^ "The Grind". [permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "LLoyd Ahlquist". Mission Improvable. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  9. ^ Hart, Hugh (June 29, 2014). "Make Every Second Count: 8 Rules for YouTube Success From the Creators of Epic Rap Battles". Fast Company. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  10. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 31, 2014). "YouTube Worldwide Live Improv Comedy Event to Be Hosted by Epic Rap Battles' Lloyd Ahlquist". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  11. ^ Gutelle, Sam (March 9, 2015). "'Epic Rap Battles' Star Lloyd Ahlquist Plans 'Epic Studios' Web Series". Tubefilter. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  12. ^ Gutelle, Sam (April 27, 2017). "'Epic Rap Battles Of History' Co-Star Lloyd Ahlquist Premieres New Web Series 'Epic Studios'". Tubefilter. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  13. ^ "Epic Lloyd will destroy you". Mimic Lives. May 11, 2012. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  14. ^ "Don't Party". Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  15. ^ A Cinnamon Challenge Thank You. EpicLLOYD. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ "EpicLLOYD". ReverbNation. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  17. ^ a b Michael Humphrey (October 26, 2011). "Epic Rap Battles of History: Talking Brash Wit With A YouTube Hit". Forbes. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  18. ^ Angela Watercutter (February 1, 2012). "Video: Master Chief Faces Off Against Leonidas in Epic Rap Battle". Wired. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  19. ^ "Vader takes on 'Hitler' in historical rap battle". CNN Geek Out. December 22, 2011. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  20. ^ Bryce J. Renninger (February 20, 2013). "'Halo,' 'Burning Love,' and 'Epic Rap Battles' Lead 3rd Streamy Award Winners". IndieWire. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  21. ^ Gutelle, Sam (October 1, 2014). "'Epic Rap Battles of History' To Begin Weekly Battles On November 10th". Tubefilter. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  22. ^ "ERB SocialBlade profile". Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  23. ^ https://x.com/theepiclloyd/status/578858202474754050?s=46
  24. ^ 1995 Exeter Area High School Yearbook. Exeter: Exeter High School. 1995. p. 21.
  25. ^ "Hutchinson-Ahlquist". Casper Star-Tribune. August 2, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  26. ^ "Josie Ahlquist".
  27. ^ EpicLLOYD [@TheEpicLLOYD] (March 20, 2015). "@wilfroumy yep. Go blue Hawks" (Tweet). Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ Sam Macaroni. "Ninja - Part 2 with Epic Lloyd". SamMacaroni.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ EPIC RAP BATTLE of MANLINESS. Rhett & Link. September 12, 2012. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Crossroads of History. "Equal Rights for Women". YouTube. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  31. ^ The Mystic Crystal - NSP. Ninja Sex Party. June 9, 2021. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via YouTube.
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