Just before Christmas, Angel Haze went a little cray cray.
The Detroit rapper sparked a war with her record label by posting a download link to her debut album on Twitter, along with an expletive-laden tirade detailing alleged release delays.
Thankfully, the rush-released official version of Dirty Gold shows Haze's fury was justified. Her debut sparkles with wit, attitude and clear-eyed determination, announcing the arrival of a female MC to rival Nicky Minaj on top of the rap pack.
"I'm in it to win," she rasps on A Tribe Called Red, a fireball of incendiary rhymes and dubstep influences that rivals MIA for intensity. Elsewhere, Haze shows she's a jack-of-all-trades, trading the anthemic dance-pop of Sing About Me for Black Synagogue's southern bass blasts, the cruisy Rihannaesque hooks of Deap Sea Diver, and the Eminem-rivalling rapidfire rhymes of Black Dahlia.
Then there's Echelon (It's My Way), a superb wave of rolling synths on which Haze declares, "Never catch me at the club, I get high and dance alone" - a great metaphor for an album surprisingly free of guest spots.
