Child Rebel Soldier

American hip hop supergroup

This article is about the hip-hop supergroup. For information on child soldiers, see Children in the military.

Child Rebel Soldier

Left to right: Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams

Background information
Genres| Hip hop
Years active| 2007–2013, 2024
Labels|

* GOOD
* 1st & 15th
* Star Trak

Members| Lupe Fiasco
Past members|

* Kanye West
* Pharrell Williams

Child Rebel Soldier, shortened CRS, is an 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. 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".[2]

## History

[edit]

### Original inception

[edit]

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).[3] 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.[4] After finishing the collaboration, the trio decided to form a group, deemed by Pharrell as "Child Rebel Soldier".[5] Their first song, "Us Placers", was listed at number 43 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[6]

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".[7]

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.[8]

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 remained 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.[9]

The album, which was tentatively titled God Unwilling, had been shelved according to Lupe Fiasco in an interview with Las Vegas radio station Hot 97.5.[10] 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 stated 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. West 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.[11]

On July 25, 2013, in response to an inquiry on Twitter, Lupe Fiasco announced that Child Rebel Soldier has been canceled.[12]

### As a solo project

[edit]

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.[13] 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.[14] The song also serves as a rough demo sketch made for the group, and samples the track "Optimistic" from Radiohead's album Kid A (2000).[15] 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.[16]

## Discography

[edit]

### Singles

[edit]

* 2007: "Us Placers"
* 2010: "Don't Stop!"
* 2024: "Shrink!"

### Guest appearances

[edit]

* 2008: N.E.R.D. – Seeing Sounds: "Everyone Nose" (remix)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Can't Tell Me Nothing". Amazon. 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
2. ^ "CRS - "SHRINK"". YouTube. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
3. ^ Kanye + Pharrell + Lupe = Child Rebel Soldiers Album? Archived December 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Pitchfork Media. Accessed December 19, 2007.
4. ^ Reid, Shaheem (April 18, 2008). "Lupe Fiasco Wants To Quit Music Biz, But Promises More Collabos With Kanye, Pharrell; Fabolous Makes The Band: Mixtape Monday". MTV. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
5. ^ Collins, Hattie (April 12, 2008). "Lupe Dreams". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
6. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 21, 2007
7. ^ Crosley, Hillary (August 14, 2007). "Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell Hoping To Make Full Album As CRS". Billboard. Nielson Business Media, Inc. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
8. ^ Jonathan, Cohen (January 30, 2008). "Kanye Touring With Rihanna, Lupe, N.E.R.D." Billboard. Nielson Business Media, Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
9. ^ "The LupE.N.D. Blog: Lupe Fiasco talks about "LASERS" & CRS w/ DJ Green Lantern [Invasion Radio]". Lupefiasco-lupend.blogspot.com. January 26, 2010. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
10. ^ Published by Terry (May 5, 2010). "Lupe Fiasco Kanye West Pharrell Supergroup Album Dumped". Hipandpop.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
11. ^ "Kanye West's "CRS" Is Back, Album On The Way? « Kanye To The". Kanyetothe.com. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
12. ^ DROGASLight Out Now! [@LupeFiasco] (July 25, 2013). ""@AshdroBoy: @illmaticmd @LupeFiasco @Pharrell @kanyewest *waits for response" The CRS group is cancelled. Done. Not happening. Stop asking" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
13. ^ Lewis, Dash. "We've Got a File on You: Lupe Fiasco". Stereogum. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
14. ^ Schube, Will (August 15, 2024). "Lupe Fiasco Reveals Radiohead-Sampling Track "Shrink"". FLOOD. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
15. ^ Eilbert, Mark (August 14, 2024). "Lupe Fiasco Drops Unreleased CRS Song "Shrink"". Complex. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
16. ^ ""SAMURAI" Now Playing on X: "Tyler has them…"". X. Retrieved August 14, 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Child Rebel Soldier

* Pharrell Williams
* Kanye West
* Lupe Fiasco

Singles|

* "Us Placers"

Featured singles|

* "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)"

* v
* t
* e

Lupe Fiasco

* Discography
* Awards and nominations

Studio albums|

* Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (2006)
* Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (2007)
* Lasers (2011)
* Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 (2012)
* Tetsuo & Youth (2015)
* Drogas Light (2017)
* Drogas Wave (2018)
* Drill Music in Zion (2022)
* Samurai (2024)

Related articles|

* Child Rebel Soldier
* Japanese Cartoon
* Occupy Wall Street
* Lupe Fiasco versus Daigo Umehara

* v
* t
* e

Kanye West

* Albums discography
* Singles discography
* Production discography
* Videography
* Songs
* Awards and nominations
* Live performances
* Samples
* Unreleased projects

Studio albums|

* The College Dropout
* Late Registration
* Graduation
* 808s & Heartbreak
* My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
* Yeezus
* The Life of Pablo
* Ye
* Jesus Is King
* Donda
* Donda 2
* Bully
* In a Perfect World

Collaborative albums|

* Watch the Throne
* Kids See Ghosts (as Kids See Ghosts)
* Jesus Is Born (as the Sunday Service Choir)
* Vultures 1 (as ¥$)
* Vultures 2 (as ¥$)

Live albums|

* Late Orchestration
* VH1 Storytellers

Compilations|

* Cruel Summer (with GOOD Music)

Visual albums|

* Bully

Extended plays|

* Never Stop (with King Combs)

Mixtapes|

* Can't Tell Me Nothing

DVDs|

* The College Dropout Video Anthology
* Late Orchestration

Films|

* We Were Once a Fairytale
* Runaway
* Cruel Summer
* Jesus Is King
* Jeen-Yuhs

Tours|

* Touch the Sky Tour
* Glow in the Dark Tour
* Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (cancelled)
* Watch the Throne Tour
* The Yeezus Tour
* Saint Pablo Tour

Books|

* Glow in the Dark

Fashion|

* Yeezy (brand)
* Adidas Yeezy
* Yeezy Gap
* Nike Air Yeezy

Family|

* Donda West (mother)
* Kim Kardashian (ex-wife)
* Bianca Censori (wife)
* North West (daughter)

Related articles|

* Dropout Bear
* GOOD Music
* GOOD Fridays
* Child Rebel Soldier
* Donda (company)
* Donda Academy
* Presidential campaigns
* Stem Player
* The Hooligans
* Taylor Swift–Kanye West feud
* Drake–Kanye West feud
* Views

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Pharrell Williams

* Awards and nominations
* Discography
* Production discography

Studio albums|

* In My Mind (2006)
* Girl (2014)

Soundtracks|

* Despicable Me (2010)
* Despicable Me 2 (2013)
* The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
* Hidden Figures soundtrack (2016)
* Hidden Figures score (2017)
* Despicable Me 3 (2017)
* Piece by Piece (2024)

Singles|

* "Frontin'"
* "Can I Have It Like That"
* "Angel"
* "Number One"
* "My Drive Thru"
* "Happy"
* "Marilyn Monroe"
* "Come Get It Bae"
* "Gust of Wind"
* "It Girl"
* "Freedom"
* "Sangria Wine"
* "Just a Cloud Away"
* "Cash In Cash Out"
* "Stay with Me"
* "Down in Atlanta"
* "Doctor (Work It Out)"
* "Double Life"

Featured songs|

* "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)"
* "Formal Invite"
* "Nothin'"
* "Boys (The Co-Ed Remix)"
* "When the Last Time"
* "Pass the Courvoisier, Part II"
* "Beautiful"
* "Excuse Me Miss"
* "Belly Dancer"
* "Change Clothes"
* "Drop It Like It's Hot"
* "Let's Get Blown"
* "Wanna Love You Girl"
* "Margarita"
* "Mr. Me Too"
* "Money Maker"
* "Yummy"
* "Sex 'n' Money"
* "Give It Up"
* "Blue Magic"
* "I Know"
* "Zock On!"
* "Universal Mind Control"
* "Announcement"
* "Work That!"
* "I'm Good"
* "ADD SUV"
* "One (Your Name)"
* "Celebrate"
* "Blurred Lines"
* "IFHY"
* "Get Lucky"
* "Feds Watching"
* "Get Like Me"
* "Lose Yourself to Dance"
* "ATM Jam"
* "Move That Dope"
* "Aerosol Can"
* "Hugs"
* "Tacky"
* "Shine"
* "WTF (Where They From)"
* "Safari"
* "Surfin'"
* "Heatstroke"
* "Feels"
* "Skeletons"
* "Juggernaut"
* "Neck & Wrist"
* "At the Party"
* "LV Bag"

Concert tours|

* Dear Girl Tour

Businesses|

* I Am Other
* Billionaire Boys Club

Related|

* The Neptunes
* N.E.R.D.
* Child Rebel Soldier
* Piece by Piece
* Golden (cancelled film)

* Category

Authority control databases: Artists |

* MusicBrainz
* 2

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