Raykeea Angel Wilson may not be as recognisable a name as Beyoncé, but she’s just dropped a surprise album of her very own.
Wilson, better known by her stage name Angel Haze, had announced just days ago that her label, Republic/Island Records, would be releasing her debut album, Dirty Gold, on 3rd March, but it appeared that the 22-year-old Brooklyn femcee couldn’t wait that long.
Haze pulled a Death Grips overnight, leaking the entire album online for free while blasting her label in a twitter tirade where she explains the ongoing disputes with Island over the delayed release of Dirty Gold, as Rolling Stone reports.
“It’s so annoying that my label could tell me that if I fucking finished my album before the summer it would be out this year,” vented the rapper in the first of a series of tweets. “Since they don’t want to put it out this year, I will,” she later added.
“I turned down so much shit to be sure that I could finish this album because actually wanting something to me means doing all you can to be,” her angry tweets continue. “I did not promise an album and not deliver, unlike every-fucking-one-else.” (No doubt referring to her ongoing feud with another young New York-based female buzz artist: Azealia Banks.) “Since they don’t want to put it out this year, I will… And you guys just may learn to keep your fucking word.”
After many more venting posts, about “taking it on the chin” and the struggles with delaying her album, Angel Haze wrote: “So sorry to Island/Republic Records, but fuck you. I got here doing this for my fans and if you guys don’t feel the same, it won’t stop me. [I don’t care] what happens after this. They will get the music they were promised. And you guys JUST MAY LEARN TO KEEP YOUR FUCKING WORD.”
The final tweet was accompanied with a Soundcloud link streaming Dirty Gold in full, which has since been swiftly removed by Republic and Island Records – who have yet to issue a statement on the matter. You can view Angel Haze’s full twitter tirade below.
Angel Haze is the latest in a string of artists that have used the immediacy of the internet to hold their record labels to task. Polarising noise-hop outfit Death Grips pulled a similar stunt last year, shafting their major label Sony Records by leaking their sophomore album NOLOVEDEEPWEB online for free; Sony responding in kind by dropping the band’s contract. Death Grips released their third album Government Plates last month in a similarly guerilla fashion.
M.I.A managed to resolve her ongoing label struggles -including the delaying the release of her long-awaited fourth album, Matangi, and a stalled documentary chronicling the making of the album – by threatening to leak Matangi ahead of schedule.
“If Interscope takes longer I can always leak this next week and make a new one by the time they are ready,” she boasted in August. Matangi was released in November, though the accompanying M.I.A documentary, that saw director Steve Loverdige quit and say he’d “rather die” than finish the project, has yet to be completed and released.
It's so annoying that my label could tell me that if I fucking finished my album before the summer it would be out this year.
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
I have gone to bat for this music. I have gone to bat for myself. I have literally sat fucking sleepless and starved crying over this shit.
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
I turned down so much shit to be sure that I could finish this album because actually wanting something to me means doing all you can to be
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
Sure that it's attainable. I stopped arguing my point. Stopped giving a fuck about everything. Let these other ditsy bitches disrespect me
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
I turned my fucking cheek because MUSIC IS ALL I FUCKING HAVE…and I know that's the same for some of you. I did everything I could for you
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
I did not promise an album and not deliver, unlike every fucking one else. I sat my ass down and came up with this music WHEN I HAD NOTHING.
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
Taking shit on the chin does not mean sitting back and letting the world beat and suck you fucking dry. It's knowing something is bigger
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
Than anything you are or will ever be and sitting the fuck down and complying to get shit done. I'm sorry if I seem angry. But these are my
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
Dreams. The only thing I have in my life. Imagine having the only reason you're alive being the very thing straining your existence. Ughhhh
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
So sorry to Island/Republic Records, but fuck you. I got here doing this for my fans and if you guys don't feel the same, it won't stop me.
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
Idc what happens after this. They will get the music they were promised. And you guys JUST MAY LEARN TO KEEP YOUR FUCKING WORD.
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013
Since they don't want to put it out this year, I will. Here's the album. HERE IS DIRTY GOLD. I hope you all enjoy it. http://t.co/MPmWL4AhoP
— Ala$ka Yxxng (@AngelHaze) December 18, 2013