The collaborative project of Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and Interpol's Paul Banks, Banks Steelz balances chilly post-punk and hard-hitting hip-hop in ways that are equally indebted to and distinct from its members' past work. Joining forces in the early 2010s, the pair issued their debut, Anything But Words, in 2016.

In 2013, in between Interpol releases, Banks, a longtime hip-hop fan, issued his own rap mixtape, Everybody on My Dick Like They Supposed to Be. RZA, meanwhile, only knew of Interpol by name until his manager, a fan of the band, introduced him to Banks. The pair hit it off, first connecting over a shared love of chess and then writing together. Banks Steelz ended up recording dozens of songs, many of them based on beats RZA made with a drum machine that used to belong to Sly the Family Stone. They recorded their album in studios on the East Coast and West Coast, favoring an organic, experimental approach.

The first taste of Banks Steelz's music, "Love + War" -- which featured a cameo by Ghostface Killah -- arrived in May 2016 and was accompanied by a Reservoir Dogs-esque video. Another song, "Giant," appeared before the release of the duo's debut album. Anything But Words, which featured additional collaborations with Kool Keith, Wu-Tang's Method Man and Masta Killa, and Florence + the Machine's Florence Welch, arrived in August 2016. The album entered the Billboard 200 and peaked at number four on the U.S. Heatseekers chart. Half a dozen singles from the album carried them into 2017, when they released the non-album track "Who Needs the World." ~ Heather Phares, Rovi