Vampire Weekend Go Hip-Hop

Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig appears on Philadelphia rapper Lushlife's new "The Songbird Athletic" single from his Cassette City album that will be released through Rapster on June 23.

The track opens with West African-style guitar played by Koenig, who also contributes backing vocals. "The Songbird Athletic" will be available on iTunes on May 19, and you can hear it here.

Cassette City will also feature contributions from Ariel Pink, Camp Lo and Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier. You can hear three more tracks from the album on Lushlife's MySpace page.

Lushlife is a classically trained pianist who also has seven years of jazz drumming experience. He mashed Kanye West's The College Dropout and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds to create West Sounds before he released his Order Of Operations debut album in 2006.

Vampire Weekend are working on the follow-up to their 2008 self-titled debut. Koenig recently told Entertainment Weekly that the band hope to have it out in September.

You can see Vampire Weekend here:

July 3 London, England @ Hyde Park w/Blur
July 31 Jersey City, NJ @ Liberty State Park (All Points West Music & Arts Festival)
Aug. 9 Chicago, IL @ Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
Aug. 18 San Antoni De Portmany, Spain @ Ibiza Rocks
Aug. 28 Paris, France @ Domaine National De Saint-Cloud (Rock En Seine)
Aug. 29 Leeds, England @ Bramham Park (Leeds Festival)
Aug. 30 Reading, England @ Richfield Avenue (Reading Festival)

Here are the tracks on Lushlife's Cassette City:

"Innocence"
"Daylight Into Me"
"The Kindness"
"Meridian Sound (Part One)"
"Another Word For Paradise"
"Until The Sun Dies"
"The Songbird Athletic"
"Meridian Sound (Part Two)"
"In Soft Focus"
"The Fall Of The Light Brigade"
"Innocence Reprise"
"Bottle Rocket"
"Meridian Sound (Part Three)"