For that CRS Album We Will Never Get | Christian Rap
Lupe told Sway in a recent interview that Child Rebel Soldier is no longer a thing (for the foreseeable future).
He then talked about the versions of CRS that almost took place. In one particular iteration, he spoke of passing the mantle to artists who would have been inspired by himself, Pharrell, and Kanye.
Who would that be? Tyler? Chance? Gambino? Travis Scott? Jpeg? Kendrick? That would be a wild combination.
The original idea of CRS was Lupe rapping over Radiohead samples - a cool backpacker vibe over alternative experimental instrumentation that grew him in a more mainstream sense. Even though we’ll probably never see an album like that come to fruition from those specific artists the Christian rap space has had CRS-type entities in existence for the past decade or so.
Failed Fitters — Movement of Truth!
These guys were the CRS of Christian rap. No questions asked. If you want a Kanye meets Pharrell meets Lupe-sounding album, Failed Fitter is the quintessential album. I want to make retroactive Movement of Truth fans. In the same way, Tyler the Creator turned his audience into fans of N.E.R.D. and Roy Ayers.
They’re like De La Soul or ATCQ if they were inspired by Graduation.
I still hope deep down in my heart they will get back together but we’ll see…
L O W B L O W — indie tribe.
This roster of artists has gained popularity in recent years by blending different rap genres to create mainstream-sounding songs, while also exploring alternative rap styles. I believe they would thrive in a setting similar to Camp Flog Gnaw.
This song has a cool low vibration tone. Each rapper slid in with their style and the beat switch was cold!
IT DEPT
This recent iteration is a whole vibe if we’re talking like a Radiohead-inspired joint with distorted vocals. It also has the Food & Liquor/The Cool alt-rap pop music blends. One of the members recently told me they have more stuff down the pipeline, so I hope they make more down the line.
Toss Paper Planes
I had a brief obsession with this group in hopes that they would pull off a full-length project solely off the strength of three songs released. While those other songs are good I think “from.a.silent.podium” speaks to what some of us would have hoped for in a CRS-type record. This is a group consisting of JGivens, Charles Longo, and Arty Basquiat (formally known as Braveheart).
I was going to do an article where I do my fantasy version of what a new generation of CRS would look like if it were all Christian rap, but honestly, who cares?
Anyway, make sure you send this article to all of your CRS fan Reddit threads.
Check out the playlist below.
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