Angel Haze’s ‘Dirty Gold’ Tanks With Roughly 1,000 First-Week Sales

Angel Haze took on The Man… and The Man won. Handily. After the rapper briefly leaked her debut album in order to force her label to move up its release, Dirty Gold sold a measly 1,115 copies in its first week available — and moved just 187 copies on its first day.

Angel publicly sparred with Island/Republic in December, criticizing the label for dragging its feet with her release. She ultimately told them “fuck you” before posting the entire LP on Soundcloud. It was gone within minutes, but she had won the battle, a triumphant anti-corporate rebellion to advance the cause of artists. Only, not really.

She’d get her wish of a 2013 release, but it meant the album would now be released on December 30. You could just see the executives rubbing their hands together — “OK you want it out this calendar year? Then you’ll get it, we’ll bury it on a day when absolutely nobody is online or in the mood for buying anything after the consumerist orgy of Christmas and the debauchery that is to follow on New Year’s Eve.” Be careful what you wish for. 

The leak move was totally punk. But, like Death Grips before her (the duo was dropped by their label), Angel Haze paid the literal price and cut into her own prospects at financial success. The money may be secondary to artists like them, so she may not even care, but the real shame is that this whole spat led to fewer people experiencing the talents of an exciting, promising young artist.

[via Revolt TV]