EL-P performs in London, England, July 2011. Photo: Jim Dyson/Redferns

We haven’t seen many strokes of lyrical brilliance from El-P since the release of his I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead LP in 2007, and despite his recently shared track, “The Full Retard,” we’re still waiting. Aside from the goofy and perhaps unintentionally-insensitive title (it could be a reference to a scene in Tropic Thunder, but still), “The Full Retard” marks El-P’s return to his blitzed old-school aesthetic, with a hook from Camu’s “You Should Pump This Shit Like They Do in the Future.” The strength of the song is in its samples, since El’s verses mostly rest on references like “go H.A.M.” or go “full retard.” But there is an interesting moment that comes when his paranoid verse is eased by a politically idyllic excerpt towards the end of the track. Either way, El-P’s upcoming album Cancer for Cure has enough promised guest spots from Danny Brown, Mr. Mother Fuckin’ eXquire, Killer Mike and Interpol’s Paul Banks to keep us curious.

Cancer for Cure arrives May 22 on Fat Possum.