Music like Banks & Steelz

Banks & Steelz is a musical collaboration between Interpol frontman Paul Banks and Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA. The duo began making music together in 2011 and began recording a full album in 2013. They released their debut studio album, Anything But Words, on August 26, 2016.

The duo first began recording music together in 2011, and a demo was created; Banks had provided vocals for a beat created by RZA. During this time, however, the two were not planning on making an album together. RZA later regarded them as just "buddies playing chess" (they had played chess together at the time) who sometimes made music. Their demos caught the attention of an A&R, which is when they began recording longer compositions for an album. The duo began work on an album in 2013, which is when the first public mention of their collaboration was made, during an interview that RZA had with Rolling Stone. In this interview, he explained that when his manager asked for who he would like to work with musically, he responded with Banks, saying that he "just has an energy about him" and that if they were to combine their musical talents, "it [would] be great". RZA expected the album to take about a year to finish. During 2014, Banks' main project Interpol were recording their fifth album, El Pintor. The album was released in September 2014. Banks and RZA were planning on releasing their album in 2015, but decided that it was unfinished.