Child Rebel Soldier (@kanyewest @NerdArMy @LupeFiasco)- Don't Stop

It’s the return of CRS - Child Rebel Soldier of course featuring Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, & Pharrell. Clearly a must-download with the names above, “Don’t Stop!” doesn’t waste any time gettin’ right to business as Pharrell is the first to spit and sets the high-paced tone with a verse filled with mainly witty similes. I actually like the sets of bars starting with the homeostasis line until the end the most, however. Lupe wastes no time going next as a first-time listener will begin to realize that there is no sort of hook on “Don’t Stop!”. It just goes from Pharrell to Lupe to Kanye with no break in between and a little production outro to conclude things. As we focus again on Lupe’s verse, it is particularly ear-catching for the constant holding of the “iiiiiiiii” sound, but also for containing one fast, clever line after the next. I also loved how Lupe ended his verse as follows:

“Who is he that we see comin’ over the tides?

In a speedboat, boat load of pride,

Fall of Rome dress shirt and a Mastermind tie,

He what happens when rappin’ and avant-garde fashion collide,

O-M-G, it’s the C from CRS, LOLin’ @ you haters, tell your BFFs yes!”

Lupe Fiasco

Lupe’s flow contains clear pronunciation and his delivery, a swagger that you can really feel in his deliberate pauses toward the end. I think it is no contest who has the best verse from top to bottom and that is not to discredit nice outputs from Pharrell and Kanye West, the latter of whom continues the break-neck pace after Lupe. Kanye raps some chuckle-inspiring lines throughout, (my favorite being the Jews line, which sounds awful on paper doesn’t it? It’s not bad.) but where his verse suffers a tad is with the numerous amounts of brand or material item name-dropping and a couple punchlines that, after dissecting, could have been stronger (Ex: the lines that end in ‘lame’ and 'good as hell’).

Overall, I very much enjoy “Don’t Stop!” and it is going to be in consistent rotation for quite some time. I think where the track hits its ceiling is in the lack of a hook; it feels like an incomplete song without one. And while the “don’t stop!” sample is dope, “Don’t Stop!” does not have the sing-a-long quality that an “Us Placers” had, for comparison sake. I will be going back to “Don’t Stop!” for Lupe’s verse the most, but maybe you will for someone else?

** Spotted at GWHH!**