RZA & Interpol Frontman Paul Banks Unveil "Very Unique and Very Peculiar" Banks & Steelz Creation, "Love + War" Ahead of Warner Bros. Full-length (Zane Lowe World First Premier)

"Just in from the department of unexpectedness, Banks (no, not Lloyd) has upped a mixtape and it's called EVERYBODY ON MY D*CK LIKE THEY SUPPOSED TO BE. Actually, we kinda knew this was happening. Paul [Banks] sent over a rough mixtape about nine months ago of his beats and production and it was genius. And what, with all the Kendricks and the A$APs and whatever, we thought a mixtape would take Banks to new heights if we got it out months before release... In this case, Paul called in a some mega-favors and got features from El-P, Talib [Kweli], Mike G, and hold up, HIGH PRIZM (né High Priest)," reads Matablog's tongue-in-cheek press release published accompanying Interpol frontman Paul Banks' surprisingly great 2013 "mixtape," Everybody On My D*ck Like They Supposed to Be. It would appear as though around the same general time frame, Banks miraculously managed to link up with avid chess player and Wu-Tang Clan founding member RZA; "Me and Paul Banks from Interpol, we're doing an album together. I love Paul. [We've] been working on it for six months now. He just left my house. He came and spent two weeks at my house - I have a guesthouse in my studio," RZA revealed to Rolling Stone nearly four years ago. "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. But it won't be out for a while," RZA exuberantly continued.

Wednesday afternoon out of the blue, nearly four years after candidly mentioning the loose formation of their genre-blending project, Paul Banks and RZA, now known as Banks & Steelz, announced that they would be premiering their as-yet-untitled debut single on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Radio show the following afternoon. Low and behold, Thursday afternoon, coinciding with a couple LA and New York-area @banksandsteelz pop-up shops, Banks & Steelz gifted Lowe their sultry horn and guitar-assisted single, "Love + War" alongside sharp-tongued Wu-Tang swordsmen Ghostface Killah. It's a rather thought-provoking tasteful melding of RZA and Paul Banks beloved Staten Island Hip-Hop and critically-acclaimed Indie Rock stylings, which to my ears at least, tends to evoke both Santana & Rob Thomas' GRAMMY-winning "Smooth" and Common's John Mayer-assisted Kanye & J Dilla-produced G.O.O.D. Music album, Be (2005). Then, Friday morning, mere hours after having initially announced their long-gestated project, Banks & Steelz again unveiled "Love + War"'s Arms Race-directed visual accompaniment; "this video is unlisted. Be considerate and think twice before sharing," reads a rather cryptic message mysteriously packaged along with "Love + War"'s embedded code. It appears to be a loose 6-minute homage to RZA's friend and frequent collaborator Quentin Tarantino's cult classic Reservoir Dogs and its iconic, often imitated "ear" scene. Banks & Steelz have yet to announce any concrete release plans for their debut Warner Bros. full-length, although they have in fact booked a string of concert dates at FYF Fest, Life Is Beautiful, and Austin City Limits this summer.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

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