It's Official: Neil deGrasse Tyson and B.o.B Are In a Rap Beef About the Shape of the Earth

Today's science lesson, kids: Don't pick a rap battle with a scientist -- especially if he has a rapper for a nephew.

Ok, so where to begin? If you turned on the radio at all in 2010, you were probably unable to avoid a song called "Nothin' On You," the debut single from B.o.B., aka Bobby Ray Jr., a rapper from Decatur, Georgia. In the five years since then, the artist has had several chart-topping singles, often collaborations -- with Hayley Williams of Paramore, with T.I. and Chris Brown, with Taylor Swift.

Well, the 27-year-old went and made headlines again yesterday for another, um, collaboration of sorts. First, he spent the evening of Jan. 24 and most of Jan. 25 tweeting about his belief that the world is in fact flat and that NASA is lying to us all (see below).

The World's Most Accessible Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson then had the audacity to respond to some of B.o.B's tweets with some verified science facts, explaining why the world might look flat while continuing to be round, a reality that was established in the 3rd century BC.

B.o.B then responded overnight with -- what else? -- a diss track sampling a speech of Tyson's. Bonus (kind of): In said track, the rapper expresses a much wider ranger of beliefs in conspiracy theories (including references to Holocaust deniers, Stalin, UFO crash cover-ups, and President Obama being controlled by some kind of shadowy Jewish force) than his original burst of crazy. Check out the lyrics on Genius.com for a handy walk-through of the insanity.

https://soundcloud.com/bobatl/bob-flatline-feat-neil-tyson

As for Neil deGrasse Tyson? Never one to shy away from a debate, the scientist did what any beloved celebrity intellectual would do -- turned to his nephew, the rapper Steven J. Tyson (aka TYSON) and released a response diss track of his own just this afternoon.

Behold: "Flat to Fact," which, if you didn't catch the reference to Drake's 2015 Meek Mill diss track "Back to Back," perhaps you'll note that the beat and instrumentals are pretty much exactly the same, while the rapping is, well...it's rapping.

"I got science in my corner and there's nothing to fear/I'm not sure what it was that really made you think you could disrespect a Tyson and your ship won't sink." The song manages to diss Stacey Dash and Donald Trump in a rather efficient manner, as well.

https://soundcloud.com/drtyson/flat-to-fact

#Science, indeed. Your move, B.o.b.