Neil deGrasse Tyson says his nephew helped him make a diss track in his 'rap wars' with rapper B.o.B: 'He dissed me, I had to diss him back'

• Neil deGrasse Tyson has recalled his 2016 "rap wars" with rapper B.o.B.
• The two exchanged diss tracks after B.o.B tweeted about a conspiracy that the Earth is flat.

Rap music has had some legendary feuds over the years — Nas versus Jay-Z, 2Pac versus Biggie, and 50 Cent versus Ja Rule to name but a few.

Neil deGrasse Tyson versus B.o.B isn't one of them, but their feud from 2016 is no doubt among the strangest, and the funniest.

It all started when B.o.B tweeted his belief in a disproven theory that the Earth is flat.

"I'm going up against the greatest liars in history ... you've been tremendously deceived," said the "Nothin' on You" rapper in one of more than 50 tweets.

B.o.B's tweets prompted a series of responses from famed astrophysicist Tyson, who explained to him why the Earth was round.

Tyson's last tweet to B.o.B was: "Duude — to be clear: Being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn't mean we all can't still like your music."

Naturally, B.o.B hit back at Tyson the way rappers do — by writing a diss track about him called "Flatline."

"Aye, Neil Tyson need to loosen up his vest / They'll probably write that man one hell of a check," he rapped on the track.

Tyson hit right back at B.o.B the way not many scientists do — with a diss track on his own.

Titled "Flat To Fact," the song was written and rapped by his nephew, Stephen Tyson, but also included vocals from the man himself.

"Very important that I clear this up / You say that Neil's vest is what he needs to loosen up? / The ignorance you're spinning helps to keep people enslaved, I mean mentally," Stephen rapped over the beat from Drake's 2015 hit "Back to Back."

At the start of the track, Tyson said: "Flat Earth is a problem only when people in charge think that way. No law stops you from regressively basking in it."

Speaking with VladTV in a video published last week, Tyson recalled the feud, describing it as "the rap wars over whether the Earth is flat.

"He dissed me, I had to diss him back," he said, adding that he enlisted his nephew to help him with a "rebuttal" after hearing B.o.B's diss track.

"I engaged him publicly because, on Twitter, he was citing, 'If you do the math...'" the 64-year-old scientist added. "You do not walk into my house and tell people to do the math and show that Earth is flat."

Asked about B.o.B's diss track "Flatline," which insinuated that he had been paid off to tell people the Earth was round, he said: "He has to say that to continue to believe what he wants to believe."

B.o.B has since (sort of) backtracked on his belief that the Earth is flat.

In an interview with TMZ last year, the rapper said: "I've heard so many theories at this point from all the people that have come my way I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Neil Tyson said it's an oval, let's just go with that for now," he added.

Science: 1. Rap: 0.