Rapper B.o.B. Claims That Earth Is Flat, Sparks Rap Battle With Neil deGrasse Tyson

Rapper B.o.B. Claims That Earth Is Flat, Sparks Rap Battle With Neil deGrasse Tyson

January 27, 2016 | by Tom Hale

Welcome to the year 2016: A time where astrophysicists and musicians have rap battles over Twitter debating whether the Earth is spherical or flat. Neil deGrasse Tyson has gotten into a Twitter feud with rapper B.o.B, which peaked yesterday with both releasing "diss tracks" aimed at each other.

B.o.B, a 27-year-old American rapper, has gained Internet notoriety with his recent tweets about the flat Earth theory. He tweeted numerous times about how the horizon never appears to be curved. He also frequently refers to the idea that if Earth was spherical, then the buildings on the horizon should be out of sight, as they’d curve around with the Earth.

He also attacked NASA as being "the edge of the world gatekeepers for over 50 years,” claiming all of their images of Earth are actually photoshopped. His Twitter account also features talk of human cloning factories, although that’s another issue.

The whole saga came to a head on Monday, January 25, when Tyson pointed out some of the flaws in B.o.B.’s argument.

To the rapper’s claim that the New York City skyline shouldn’t be visible from 97 kilometers (60 miles) away at Harriman State Park’s Bear Mountain, Tyson responded that Earth’s curve does indeed block around 46 meters (150 feet) of the Manhattan skyline from this point, however most of the buildings are a lot taller than that.

B.o.B.’s quick rebuttal came in the form of a diss track – a three-and-a-half minute rap aimed at Tyson called “Flatline.” Flat, line. Like the horizon – get it? Along with samples of Tyson talking, the track features lyrics including “Globalists see me as a threat. Free thinking, got the world at my neck,” “Indoctrinated in a cult called science. And graduated to a club full of liars,” and “Aye, Neil Tyson need to loosen up his vest. They’ll probably write that man one hell of a check.”

Image in text: Tyson was quick to respond to B.o.B's bizarre claims. NASA

B.o.B's, uh, interesting rap is above.

By Tuesday afternoon, Tyson replied with a diss track of his own, with the help of his hip-hop musician nephew Steve Tyson. The rap features and finishes with the line: “Dude, to be clear: Being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn’t mean we all can’t still like your music.”

Enjoy Tyson's track below. And for the record: No, the Earth isn't flat. Just to be clear.