"us placers" was produced by lupe fiasco, who initially crafted the song for inclusion within his own mixtape. his intention was to create a mashup mixtape of the same name, a hip-hop remake of english alternative rock musician thom yorke's 2006 solo album "the eraser", along with a few radiohead songs. fiasco originally wanted kanye west, who also deeply enjoyed yorke's album, and english hip-hop group the streets to appear on the track. however, the streets failed to respond while west sent the song over to pharrell williams after laying down a verse. the three enjoyed the collaboration so much that they decided to form their very own group. it was williams who came up with their name, child rebel soldier. according to fiasco, "it was pharrell's idea one day in the studio 'cause we're all similar, same likes and same dislikes, same goals and aspirations." early track listings for west's third studio album "graduation" indicated that he intended to feature the group's song on his album, but it was subsequently not included.