Lupe Fiasco is looking to revive his Child Rebel Soldier supergroup with Kanye West and Pharrell, albeit with a major twist.
In an interview with Stereogum, the Chicago rap legend revealed that he wants to “reboot” CRS in the near future, but as a solo venture where he raps primarily over Radiohead beats.
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“I’m gonna reboot CRS in the next six months, maybe next year,” he said. “Tyler, [The Creator] has one of the CRS records. But it’s gonna go back to the original energy, which was me rapping over Radiohead beats.”
Elaborating on his plans for the side project, he added: “It’s this weird relationship, because it’s kind of like, do I put it out as freestyles because I’ll never be able to clear those records? I’ve always wanted to do an album with [Radiohead’s] producer, Nigel Godrich, [so] do I go work with Nigel?
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“I know I’m not gonna be able to work with Radiohead and do an album with them; that shit’s pie in the sky. I’ll just go back to that original [vibe], just go back and find those dope loops and samples from Radiohead or their solo records, loop the shit up, and make little beats out of it, and crush with some dope ass lyrics.”
He continued: “I’ll either do some loosie freestyle shit or a proper tape, get sued for it, and keep it moving. You can take those records, the ‘National Anthem’ record, ‘Us Placers,’ and ‘Animal Pharm,’ as the first three singles. You’ll probably get another five or six. We’ll see.”
Child Rebel Soldier made their debut in 2007 with the critically acclaimed single “Us Placers,” which heavily sampled Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser.”
Despite hopes of a full-length album from Lupe, Kanye and Pharrell, the trio released just two more collaborations as an official group — a remix of N.E.R.D.‘s “Everyone Nose” in 2008 and “Don’t Stop!,” from Ye’s 2010 G.O.O.D. Fridays series — before essentially disbanding.
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Detailing the genesis of the supergroup as well as the challenges of keeping it together, Lupe told Stereogum: “It became this group — Pharrell has beats, Ye got beats, I got beats. But then it was like, ‘Well, what are you gonna rap about?’
“I decided I was gonna rap about the downfall of being famous. The downfall of luxury, the dark side. If you listen to ‘Us Placers,’ that’s what that is.”
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He continued: “I went back to P and was like, ‘Let’s just let that be the thing. I’m not rich, but you rich than a motherfucker. Ye rich. Look, why don’t it just be rich motherfuckers’ first-world problems over these ethereal-ass Radiohead beats?'”
However, aligning the schedules of three established Hip Hop stars quickly proved too difficult.
“It kept getting lost in the sauce and there was a realization that this was not gonna happen,” Lupe said. “People kept putting it on me, and it’s like, ‘Hey, it ain’t me.’ Pharrell is at Louis Vuitton, Ye is in some fucking factory somewhere pumping out socks.”
The Food & Liquor MC previously sparked exitement among CRS fans last year when he revealed that unreleased music from his, Kanye West and Pharrell’s supergroup exists.
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Lupe dropped the bombshell on social media after a fan urged him to to share unreleased CRS songs that he most likely has “in a vault somewhere on an old Mac or iPod.”
In response, Carrera Lu casually revealed that he does indeed possess never-before-heard tracks and that Tyler, The Creator has heard them.
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Lupe shared a screenshot of a text exchange with Tyler — a noted Lupe, Kanye and Pharrell obsessive — in which he sent the former Odd Future frontman two songs he made for CRS called “Engine Light” and “Shrink.”
“Figured you’d might enjoy these… some rough demo sketches I did for CRS,” Lupe wrote to Tyler in the message.
A stunned Tyler replied: “BRO[.] WHAT THE FUCK[.] these r crazy” along with a face holding back tears emoji.
