Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Nephew Fires Back at B.o.B. on ‘Flat to Fact’
Neil deGrasse Tyson‘s nephew Stephen has released a new song, “Flat to Fact,” in support of the celebrated astrophysicist, whose surreal back-and-forth with B.o.B. over whether the Earth is flat has turned into a full-fledged rap feud.
The saga between the scientist and MC began over the weekend when B.o.B. spent hours propagating the Earth-is-flat myth on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, the tirade drew the attention of Tyson, who debunked some of B.o.B.’s more dubious scientific claims — and took a few jabs at the rapper. In response, B.o.B. released, “Flatline,” in which he rapped, “Neil Tyson need to loosen up his vest / They’ll probably write that man one hell of a check.”
Tyson fired back Tuesday evening with a link to his nephew’s “Flat to Fact” in a tweet directed at B.o.B.: “As an astrophysicist I don’t rap, but I know people who do. This one has my back.”
While Tyson does lend his dulcet voice to the beginning and end of “Flat to Fact” — reciting two scathing tweets he sent B.o.B. — the track is an otherwise straightforward diss that both sonically, and lyrically, nods to Drake’s scathing Meek Mill take-down, “Back to Back Freestyle.”
“I’m in the Hayden Planetarium gettin’ shoulder rubs,” Stephen Tyson spits. “I think it’s very clear, that Bobby didn’t read enough / And he’s believing all this conspiracy theory stuff / Are these all of your thoughts or is the loud talkin?” Elsewhere, Tyson promises he’ll keep schooling B.o.B. if necessary with a reference to DJ Khaled’s “another one” ad-lib, while later he cracks that the rapper is getting his intel straight from Donald Trump.
While there’s a playful, flabbergasted tone to Tyson’s “Flat to Fact,” B.o.B.’s “Flatline” is disconcertingly serious and rife with outlandish conspiracy theories. Alongside musings about the masons and “mirror lizards” — ostensibly a reference to the myth that a humanoid-reptilian elite governs the world — B.o.B. alleges a global Jewish conspiracy and urges listeners to look up noted Holocaust denier David Irving.