Child Rebel Soldier
| Company type | Musical group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams |
| Defunct | 2013 (as a group) |
| Fate | Disbanded (2013); revived as solo project (2024) |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams |
| Products | Music singles ("Us Placers", "Diamonds & Dollars", "Don't Stop!", "Shrink!") |
Child Rebel Soldier, often abbreviated as CRS, is an alternative hip-hop collaboration initially formed by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. The original supergroup, composed of Lupe (child), Kanye West (rebel), and Pharrell Williams (soldier), came together in 2007, producing two joint singles before disbanding in 2013.
In 2024, Lupe announced the revival of CRS as a solo endeavor, focusing on rapping over samples from Radiohead. On August 14, 2024, he released "Shrink!" through his YouTube channel, incorporating elements from Radiohead's "Optimistic".
Formation and early years
Child Rebel Soldier originated with the track "Us Placers", featured on Kanye West's mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing (2007), which preceded his album Graduation. Lupe Fiasco created the song as part of a concept for a mashup mixtape blending hip-hop reinterpretations of Thom Yorke's The Eraser and Radiohead’s music. Kanye contributed a verse and invited Pharrell Williams to join after The Streets declined involvement. The trio subsequently formed CRS, adopting the name at Pharrell’s suggestion. "Us Placers" was ranked number 43 on Rolling Stone's list of Best Songs of 2007.
During a 2007 interview with Billboard, Lupe expressed aspirations for a full-length album from CRS, contingent on label agreements.
On January 29, 2008, Kanye announced that CRS would join the Glow in the Dark Tour, performing alongside Rihanna and Pharrell’s group N.E.R.D.
Discussions about a CRS album continued into 2010, including plans for music videos. The group featured on the remix of N.E.R.D.'s "Everyone Nose", credited as Child Rebel Soldier. The remix video showcased retro video game visuals.
Although Lupe completed his solo album with Atlantic Records and Kanye pursued individual projects, Lupe revealed in January 2010 that CRS had recorded four tracks. However, their proposed album titled God Unwilling was ultimately shelved, according to Lupe in an interview that year. When asked about CRS during promotion for his album Lasers, Lupe succinctly denied any ongoing activity with a single word: "nope".
On October 8, 2010, Kanye released "Don't Stop" as part of his "GOOD Fridays" series; Lupe later mentioned that the song was originally written in 2008. At an October 18 screening of "Runaway", Kanye stated that CRS was still planned following his solo albums My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch The Throne with Jay-Z.
On July 25, 2013, Lupe confirmed via Twitter that Child Rebel Soldier had been discontinued.
Revival as a solo act
In July 2024, Lupe announced intentions to relaunch CRS as a solo side project featuring rap over Radiohead samples. The debut release under this new format was "Shrink!" on August 14, 2024—marking the first CRS track in fourteen years. This song samples Radiohead’s "Optimistic" from their album Kid A. The title had been previously revealed when Lupe shared unreleased CRS material with Tyler, the Creator.
Discography
Singles
- 2007: "Us Placers"
- 2007: "Diamonds & Dollars"
- 2010: "Don't Stop!"
- 2024: "Shrink!"
Guest appearances
- 2008: N.E.R.D. – Seeing Sounds: "Everyone Nose" (remix)