“Robert was a leader and an example. His legacy extends so much wider than just being the victim of a hazing tragedy. Our goal with this record was to simply share the significance of his life far beyond the incident surrounding his death,” Cassius says.
After news broke of Champion’s death, Cassius sought after fellow artist and Champion’s high school band mate and college roommate B. Rossi, saxophone player and former band mate Ryan Kilgore, Bu Vision recording artist and co-songwriter, Jimi Cravity, as well as other Grammy Award-winning engineers, musicians and co-producers, namely: Lionshare Jesse Singer, Chris Soper and Nick Banns. Together, the team composed “Champion (You'll be Remembered)” to benefit the Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation. Additionally, Visual Artist and Champion’s cousin, Shuntia Wallace, illustrated the album artwork to capture the true essence of Champion’s spirit and his unwavering passion for his craft.
“He gave 100 percent effort whether we were performing at a stadium in front of 10,000 people or just practicing with a small group of five or six people. He aspired to inspire, and we hope to do the same through this record,” Cassius says.
As drum major, Champion led by example and instilled in others to “March First and Talk Second.” In his honor, “Champion (You'll be Remembered)” will be released March 1, 2012 and will be available for $1.00 on iTunes.
To make a donation to the Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation, please visit facebook.com/
Join the conversation by following Cassius and the Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation on Twitter at @CassiusDKalb and @rdc4change, and by using the hashtag #IAMCHAMPION.
ABOUT CASSIUS D. KALB
Khalil “Cassius D. Kalb" Walton is an American Grammy Award-winning songwriter, and musician based in Atlanta, Georgia. In his short career, Cassius has gained notoriety and respect as a songwriter for co-writing and composing the Grammy-Award winning single "Just the Way You Are" for Bruno Mars’ debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans. "Just the Way You Are" was Cassius’ first placement and the multi-platinum, top-selling record has achieved international success and covers on television shows Glee and X Factor. On top of numerous nominations, Cassius’ accolades include a 2010 GRAMMY for Male Pop Vocal Performance a 2010 ASCAP Pop Music Song of the Year award and an award for 2010 Billboard Top Radio Song of the year. With the success of "Just the Way You Are," Cassius continued to break records by landing another placement, co-penning, "Til I Get There" for Lupe Fiasco's L.A.S.E.R.S album which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. On January 27, 2011, "Til I Get There" was featured on ESPN Winter X Games. Cassius is deeply rooted in the community and recently received a proclamation from the City of Atlanta for charitable works in his participation with Sheltering Arms. Additionally, Cassius has written a special tribute song called “Champion”
