Saul Williams has led a fascinating career. He’s been a champion slam poet, a Trent Reznor collaborator, and, most recently, the star of a Tupac-themed Broadway musical that flopped badly. This summer, he’ll release his new album MartyrLoserKing. He recorded the whole thing with producer Justin Warfield, formerly half of She Wants Revenge. The early single “Burundi” is an intense, heavy, swirling track with a vocal from Warpaint member Emily Kokal. Below, listen to the song and read a statement about it from Williams.

Williams writes:

Burundi is one of the 1st songs I recorded for MartyrLoserKing. I initially recorded it in Paris after returning from a month of travel thru Senegal, Swaziland & South Africa. I focused on [the country] Burundi as I was studying the coltan trade & black market networks. Also because of the role of the drum/tambour in Burundi & how those drums became the backbeat for new wave… Adam Ant etc. I’m a huge Warpaint fan. Justin [Warfield] mentioned that he knew Em when I was playing him my demoes and I asked him to invite her to the studio. From there, she just sang along.

(via Pitchfork)

MartyrLoserKing is out on July on FADER Label.