Child Rebel Soldier, abbreviated CRS, was a hip hop supergroup consisting of hip hop artists and record producers Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Pharrell Williams.[1]
Child Rebel Soldier was conceived with the conception of the song "Us Placers", which appears on Kanye West's mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing (2007), released just before his third studio album Graduation (2007).[2] Lupe Fiasco 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, along with a few Radiohead songs. He originally wanted Kanye West and English rapper The Streets to feature on the mixtape's first track "Us Placers", but Skinner did not respond as West sent the song to Pharrell Williams after writing a verse.[3] After ending the collaboration, the trio decided to form a group, billed by Pharrell as "Child Rebel Soldier".[4] Their first song, "Us Placers", was ranked number 43 on Rolling Stone's magazines list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[5]
In a 2007 interview with Billboard, Fiasco explained that the three hoped to find time to build 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 together later in the year. 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 by Lupe Fiasco with sohh.com, there were plans for a CRS album in 2010. He said that the CRS trio would have three different items: an album, music videos, and a third item that he did not elaborate on (speculation that what he was referring to at this point was the unannounced "Glow in the Dark" tour at the time).
The group was featured on a N.E.R.D.'s "Everyone Nose" remix. They were labeled as Child Rebel Soldier in the song instead of their separate entities. This is the second song where they use their group name. The official video for the remix version of "Everyone Nose" 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.
On July 25, 2013, in response to a reply on Twitter, Lupe Fiasco announced that Child Rebel Soldier was disbanded.[8]
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