21-year old female rapper Angel Haze – for a big fuck-you move – just leaked her debut album ‘Dirty Gold’ before its official release on December 30 because of a dispute with record label Island / Republic over promised release dates, but regardless of the politics, the album is absolute gold. The leak, not surprisingly, has since been taken down from Soundcloud, but in my opinion the 15-track effort is one of the best hip-hop records of 2013 and she probably now regrets giving it away to so many people for free.

She wrote, “If the main source of your happiness becomes the sole source of your stress, then something needs to fucking change.” Fair enough – apparently the label promised to release her album this year if she finished it by the summer, but weren’t actually going to until she leaked it. But ranging from the deep, meaningful vibe of ‘A Tribe Called Red’ and ‘Black Synagogue’ to the pop-influenced ‘April’s Fool’ to the committed, persistent lyrical work of ‘Sing About Me’ and the commercial collaboration with Sia ‘Battle Cry’, the LP is fantastic. Listen to a sampler below and be excited for the proper drop tomorrow.