Three years after first teasing their collaborative project, Interpol singer Paul Banks and Wu-Tang producer/rapper RZA have unveiled their first piece of music as Banks & Steelz. The pair's "Love & War" was premiered today (May 19) through Zane Lowe's Beats 1 program.
The world premiere of the cut revealed that RZA's Wu-Tang bud Ghostface Killah was tapped to deliver a guest verse. So far, it's unclear if any other musicians will appear on Banks & Steelz's debut album, which is expected sometime in the future. For now, you can stream "Love & War" down below.
News of Banks and RZA's musical partnership surfaced at the end of 2013, the same year Banks released his hip-hop-dabbling Everybody on My Dick Like They Supposed to Be mixtape. At the time, RZA had explained that Banks had been staying in his guesthouse as they worked on the material.
"My manager came to me and said, 'Who do you want to do an album with?' I said, 'Well, Paul just has an energy about him. I think if we put our sandwich together it will be great,'" he had told Rolling Stone. "Me and Paul, we play chess together and just hang out. We went to the studio and we started writing songs and they sound very, very different than what I do, but very unique and very peculiar."
An ETA for the as-yet-unnamed album has yet to be delivered, but Pitchfork reports that Banks & Steelz are booked to play Austin City Limits and this July's FYF event in Los Angeles.
Pick up the 10th anniversary edition of Interpol's Our Love to Admire on vinyl and with a limited edition DVD.
The world premiere of the cut revealed that RZA's Wu-Tang bud Ghostface Killah was tapped to deliver a guest verse. So far, it's unclear if any other musicians will appear on Banks & Steelz's debut album, which is expected sometime in the future. For now, you can stream "Love & War" down below.
News of Banks and RZA's musical partnership surfaced at the end of 2013, the same year Banks released his hip-hop-dabbling Everybody on My Dick Like They Supposed to Be mixtape. At the time, RZA had explained that Banks had been staying in his guesthouse as they worked on the material.
"My manager came to me and said, 'Who do you want to do an album with?' I said, 'Well, Paul just has an energy about him. I think if we put our sandwich together it will be great,'" he had told Rolling Stone. "Me and Paul, we play chess together and just hang out. We went to the studio and we started writing songs and they sound very, very different than what I do, but very unique and very peculiar."
An ETA for the as-yet-unnamed album has yet to be delivered, but Pitchfork reports that Banks & Steelz are booked to play Austin City Limits and this July's FYF event in Los Angeles.
Pick up the 10th anniversary edition of Interpol's Our Love to Admire on vinyl and with a limited edition DVD.