Child Rebel Soldier | |
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![]() Left to right: Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams | |
Background information | |
Genres | Hip hop |
Years active | 2007–2013, 2024 |
Labels | |
Members | Lupe Fiasco |
Past members |
Child Rebel Soldier, shortened CRS, is the alternative hip-hop side project of American rapper Lupe Fiasco. The project was originally a supergroup composed of Lupe (child), Kanye West (rebel), and Pharrell Williams (soldier). [1] Formed in 2007, the trio released two collaborative singles prior to their original disbandment in 2013.
In 2024, Lupe expressed plans to revive the group as a solo side project, where he would strictly rap over Radiohead samples. [2] He released what would be the first Child Rebel Soldier song in almost fourteen years, "Shrink!" on August 14, 2024 via his YouTube channel, sampling the Radiohead song "Optimistic". [3]
Child Rebel Soldier was conceived alongside the song "Us Placers", which appears on Kanye West's Can't Tell Me Nothing (2007) mixtape, released just prior to his third studio album Graduation (2007). [4] Lupe Fiasco produced the song in an attempt to construct a mashup mixtape containing hip hop remakes of rock singer Thom Yorke's solo album The Eraser , coupled with a few Radiohead songs. He originally wanted Kanye West and English rapper The Streets (Mike Skinner) to appear on the mixtape's first song "Us Placers", but Skinner failed to respond while West sent the song over to Pharrell Williams after laying down a verse. [5] After finishing the collaboration, the trio decided to form a group, deemed by Pharrell as "Child Rebel Soldier". [6] Their first song, "Us Placers", was listed at number 43 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. [7]
In a 2007 interview with Billboard , Fiasco elaborated that the three had hopes to find time to construct a full-length studio album, saying, "Now [our labels are] working it out. Whoever is going to pay is going to pay a whole hell of a lot. Everybody is excited, [but] 'Us Placers' is the only record we have". [8]
On January 29, 2008, it was announced on Kanye West's blog that the three artists would be touring later in the year together. The Glow in the Dark Tour, as it was called, consisted of Kanye West, Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell's funk rock band N.E.R.D. [9]
According to a Lupe Fiasco interview with sohh.com, there were plans for a CRS album in 2010. He said the trio of CRS would have three different elements to it: an album, music videos, and a third element he failed to elaborate on (speculation that what he was referring to at this point was the then unannounced "Glow in the Dark" Tour).
The group was featured on the remix to "Everyone Nose" by N.E.R.D. They were labeled as Child Rebel Soldier on the song instead of their separate entities. This is the second song where they use their group name. The official video for the "Everyone Nose" remix version was posted on Kanye West's blog on August 7, 2008. The video, directed by Hype Williams, features CRS and Pusha T of Clipse. Behind them is a green screen showing scenes from various retro video games, including Donkey Kong , Galaga , and Space Invaders .
With Lupe Fiasco's upcoming album completed and scheduled to be released by Atlantic Records, Kanye West remains the only member currently working on their own solo LP. Despite this, on January 26 Lupe Fiasco announced that the group had finished 4 songs. [10]
The album, which was tentatively titled God Unwilling, has now been shelved according to Lupe Fiasco in an interview with Las Vegas radio station Hot 97.5. [11] In the interview he first spoke about his upcoming album, Lasers, and then shot down the supposedly upcoming Child Rebel Soldier with one word when he was questioned – "nope". Lupe offered no further explanation at the time as to why the album had been placed on indefinite hold.
On October 8, 2010, Kanye West released what was thought as a new Child Rebel Soldier track entitled "Don't Stop" as a part of his "GOOD Fridays" releases. However, in an interview, Lupe announced that "Don't Stop" was actually written in 2008.
On October 18, 2010, at the L.A. screening for "Runaway", which was again followed by a rather lengthy Q&A, the subject of CRS was brought up. Kanye explained that the project is on the table and will follow after the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and collaboration album Watch The Throne with Jay-Z. [12]
On July 25, 2013, in response to an inquiry on Twitter, Lupe Fiasco announced that Child Rebel Soldier has been canceled. [13]
In July 2024, in an interview with Stereogum, Lupe expressed plans to revive the group as a solo side project, where he would strictly rap over Radiohead samples. The song "Shrink!" would be released a month later on August 14, 2024 via his YouTube channel, which was the first release from the group/project in fourteen years. The song also serves as a rough demo sketch made for the group. Its title was originally revealed a year prior to the release, when he posted on X that he sent two unreleased CRS songs to Tyler, the Creator - "Shrink!" being one of them. [14]
N.E.R.D. is an American rock and hip hop band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994. The Neptunes were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s, the duo formed the band with Shay Haley as a side project band of The Neptunes in 1994. N.E.R.D.'s debut album, In Search Of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also awarded the second annual Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album, Fly or Die, sold 412,000 copies in the United States, but shipped at least 500,000 units, certifying it Gold.
Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip hop duo, mainly active from 1994 to 2010. It consists of brothers Gene "No Malice" and Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during the group's early years, while No Malice was originally known as Malicious, but changed his stage name to Malice soon after the group's formation, before changing it to No Malice once more in 2012 following his conversion to Christianity. Based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the duo was discovered by producer and fellow Virginia Beach native, Pharrell Williams, who convinced the artists to work in tandem. Williams served as executive and lead producer for each of their albums, as part of the Neptunes and as a frequent guest performer. As key figures in establishing Virginia as one of the East Coast's strongholds in hip hop, the duo's frequent subject matter is based around illegal drug trade.
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. He also performs as the frontman of rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco was the chief executive officer of 1st and 15th Entertainment.
"Touch the Sky" is a song recorded by American hip hop artist Kanye West for his second studio album, Late Registration (2005). The song features Lupe Fiasco on his career debut. It was produced by Just Blaze, standing as the album's only track to not include production from West. The song was released in the United Kingdom as a digital EP through Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam on January 1, 2006. On February 14, the aforementioned labels serviced the song to US mainstream radio stations as the album's fourth single. The next month, it was released in various countries for digital download by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam and as a CD single through Universal Music, respectively.
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is the debut studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 19, 2006, on 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features production from The Neptunes, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, Craig Kallman, Prolyfic, Needlz, Soundtrakk, and Brandon Howard. Jay-Z, Chill, and Fiasco himself are credited as the executive producers for the album. Songs on the record discuss poverty, Islam, terrorism, racism, and individuality.
"Kick, Push" is the first single released from Lupe Fiasco's debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. It was written by Lupe Fiasco and Soundtrakk, who also produced the song. It describes a love story between a male and a female misfit skateboarders. It has been referred to as "a needle in hip hop's haystack of complacent songs."
"Daydreamin'" is the third single taken from Lupe Fiasco's album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (2006) and features soul singer Jill Scott. The song won Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, earning Fiasco his first Grammy and Scott's third.
American rapper Lupe Fiasco has released nine studio albums, seven mixtapes, seven soundtrack albums, 38 singles, and 37 music videos.
"Us Placers" is the debut song by American supergroup Child Rebel Soldier, a musical collaboration consisting of American hip-hop artists Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams. It was released as the third song on the track-listing of West's 2007 mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing. The song was produced by Fiasco and samples the 2006 song "The Eraser" by Thom Yorke. In "Us Placers," the trio speaks on the entrapments of fame. Having been released on a free mixtape, the song did not enter the charts but became an online hit and received strong reviews from music critics.
The Glow in the Dark Tour was the third concert tour by Kanye West, in support of his third studio album, Graduation (2007). West shared the first tour dates across the United Kingdom in September 2007, while he later announced the American leg in January 2008. He engaged in precise tour rehearsals and enlisted Jim Henson's Creature Shop for production of his set, with design handled by Esmeralda Devlin, Martin Phillips, and John McGuire. West mostly performed music from his first three studio albums and incorporated work on later legs from his 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak; the songs were re-arranged by the touring band to have a more melancholy sound. The concerts followed a space opera concept that saw West traveling in his spaceship Jane and then performing on a desolate planet, where he sought more power towards the end. The tour began in London on November 22, 2007, travelling across the United States, South America, Europe, and Oceania until its last show in Brisbane on December 7, 2008. West made a tour stop at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival, although delays faced to his set caused a negative backlash.
"Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)" is a song by American band N.E.R.D. It is the lead single from their third studio album Seeing Sounds and was released on May 13, 2008. Lyrically, the song delves into the issue of women socially snorting cocaine in bathrooms. The song was accompanied by music video, which was directed by Diane Martel. A video for the remix of the song featuring Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Pusha T of Clipse was also filmed and directed by Hype Williams.
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