Child Rebel Soldier

Child Rebel Soldier
Genres	Alternative hip hop
Years active	2007–present
Labels	1st & 15th, GOOD, Star Trak
Members
Lupe Fiasco Kanye West Pharrell Williams

Child Rebel Soldier, shortened CRS, is a hip hop supergroup composed of hip hop artists Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Pharrell Williams.^[1]

History

Child Rebel Soldier was conceived with the conception of the song "Us Placers", which appears on Kanye West's Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape, released just prior to his third studio album Graduation.^[2] Lupe Fiasco had produced the song in an attempt to construct a mashup mixtape containing hip hop remakes of alternative 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 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.^[3] After finishing the collaboration, the trio decided to form a group, named by Pharrell as "Child Rebel Soldier".^[4] Their first song, "Us Placers", was listed at #43 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.^[5]

In an 2007 interview with Billboard, Lupe 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".^[6]

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.^[7]

According to an interview on sohh.com with Lupe Fiasco, 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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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 "G.O.O.D. Fridays" track releasing day. 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.^[10]

Discography

Singles

• 2007: "Us Placers"
• 2010: "Don't Stop!"

Guest appearances

• 2008: N.E.R.D - Seeing Sounds: "Everyone Nose (remix)"

References

1. ^ "Can't Tell Me Nothing". Amazon. Amazon.com, Inc. 2008. http://www.amazon.com/dp/images/B0012IV6MK/?img=1. Retrieved 2008-04-12. 
2. ^ Kanye + Pharrell + Lupe = Child Rebel Soldiers Album? Pitchfork Media. Accessed December 19, 2007.
3. ^ Reid, Shaheem (2008-04-18). "Lupe Fiasco Wants To Quit Music Biz, But Promises More Collabos With Kanye, Pharrell; Fabolous Makes The Band: Mixtape Monday". MTV. MTV Networks. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1585310/20080411/fiasco__lupe.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-04-18. 
4. ^ Collins, Hattie (2008-04-12). "Lupe Dreams". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/apr/12/urbanmusic.culture. Retrieved 2008-08-03. 
5. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
6. ^ Crosley, Hillary (2007-08-14). "Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell Hoping To Make Full Album As CRS". Billboard. Nielson Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003625397#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003625397. Retrieved 2007-09-15. 
7. ^ Jonathan, Cohen (2008-01-30). "Kanye Touring With Rihanna, Lupe, N.E.R.D.". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/search/?keyword=Kanye+Touring+With+Rihanna%2C+Lupe%2C+N.E.R.D.%7C+#/news/kanye-touring-with-rihanna-lupe-n-e-r-d-1003703937.story. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
8. ^ "The LupE.N.D. Blog: Lupe Fiasco talks about "LASERS" & CRS w/ DJ Green Lantern [Invasion Radio]". Lupefiasco-lupend.blogspot.com. 2010-01-26. http://lupefiasco-lupend.blogspot.com/2010/01/lupe-fiasco-turns-in-lasers-today.html. Retrieved 2011-02-26. 
9. ^ Published by Terry (2010-05-05). "Lupe Fiasco Kanye West Pharrell Supergroup Album Dumped". Hipandpop.com. http://www.hipandpop.com/lupe-fiasco-kanye-west-pharrell-supergroup-album/675/. Retrieved 2011-02-26. 
10. ^ "Kanye West’s “CRS” Is Back, Album On The Way? « Kanye To The". Kanyetothe.com. http://www.kanyetothe.com/news/kanye-wests-crs-is-back-album-on-the-way-1135/. Retrieved 2011-02-26.