[Update 1/26]: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s rapping nephew Stephen Tyson has unleashed his own diss track back at B.o.B. The track, which uses the same production as Drake’s “Back 2 Back” is called “Flat To Fact” and contains samples of Tyson reading some of his tweets to B.o.B. Long live King Tyson. Long live science.
Dear @bobatl, as an astrophysicist I don’t rap, but I know people who do. This one has my back: https://t.co/BbMi4tzHLz
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 26, 2016
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At some point in your life, there will comes a time when you are absolutely certain you know something that others don’t, and may decide to share that idea with the world. It could be met with interest, or perhaps even gratitude for having changed the way someone else thought. You may even brightened someone’s day with this new information. Then there are times when it will go horribly wrong, and the idea you served up, which you swear is 100 percent fact, will get shot down so fast you hardly know what hit you. In most cases, this won’t happen to you on Twitter, and the person refuting your ideas won’t be one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject you brought up. But, on occasion, it will.
Atlanta rapper B.o.B recently took to twitter to share some “data” backing up his belief that the Earth is flat. Neil deGrasse Tyson—Earth’s resident bad-ass in all things astrophysics—couldn’t let this stand, and responded to a few of the rapper’s tweets with some cold hard science.
— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016
@bobatl Earth's curve indeed blocks 150 (not 170) ft of Manhattan. But most buildings in midtown are waaay taller than that.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016
— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016
@bobatl Polaris is gone by 1.5 deg S. Latitude. You’ve never been south of Earth’s Equator, or if so, you've never looked up.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016
Although Tyson, along with the vast majority of the scientific community for a fair amount of recorded human history, disagrees with the rapper’s thoughts on the Earth being flat, he was still gracious enough to end his arguments as politely as possible.
@bobatl Duude — to be clear: Being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn’t mean we all can’t still like your music
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016
You’d think a dispute like this would be over and done with when one of the leading minds in the field shut things down so concisely. However, the rapper simply doubled down on the bunk science. His tweets escalated into an erratic crusade against scientific fact as he posted and retweeted a fair amount of “proof” that the Earth is flat. B.o.B. went so far as to draw a straight line on pictures of the horizon in what looks to be Microsoft Paint, and even challenged NASA for evidence of a spherical Earth. He  even brought out the ol’ crackpot standby about the moon landing being faked, and you’ve got to respect an musician who knows when to play the classics!
In finishing this article, I had planned to bookend it with the same sentiment Neil deGrasse Tyson expressed about still enjoying B.o.B.’s music despite his thoughts on science. The story was to be wrapped up with a message along the lines of sticking to what one is best at, leaving the science to the scientists and the music to the musicians. But I can no longer do that, because B.o.B made a song about this whole ordeal and it’s… it’s… well, we’ll let you be the judge.
There’s only one thing left to do. Neil deGrasse Tyson must respond in kind and release a song of his own, full of accurate scientific data. Bill Nye should DJ.
What are your thoughts about N.d.G taking B.o.B to S.c.h.o.o.L? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image: Neil deGrasse Tyson
