Dirty Gold (album)

Dirty Gold is the debut studio album by American rapper and singer Angel Haze. It was released on December 30, 2013, by Island and Republic Records. The album was supported by two singles: "Echelon (It's My Way)" and "Battle Cry" featuring Sia; along with the promotional single, "No Bueno".
In the United States, the album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart in its first week of release, failing to appear on the Billboard 200. It sold fewer than 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week. In the UK, it debuted at number 196 on the UK Album Charts, selling 857 copies. The album debuted at number 22 on the UK R&B Albums.
== Background ==
In 2013, Nicola Carson reached out to sign Angel Haze. They planned a one-day trip to Los Angeles to start the artist's debut project, set for early-2014. In May 2013, Haze debuted a track that was not included on Dirty Gold, titled "No Bueno", at a performance in London. On June 2, 2013, the song was released as the first promotional single. Haze started releasing covers to their SoundCloud page, as a way to showcase her versatility in singing and rapping.Hampp, Andrew (December 9, 2013). "Angel Haze: Inside the Making of Her Debut Album, 'Dirty Gold'". Billboard. On December 18, 2013, Haze leaked the album in its entirety to SoundCloud. The leak happened following a dispute with their record label, which Haze wrote about in a series of tweets expressing their outrage. Executives for the record company told Haze that if they finished recording their album before the summer, the label would release Dirty Gold in 2013. It was scheduled for a January 2014 release, but was later pushed back to March 3, 2014.Feeney, Nolan (December 30, 2013). "Angel Haze's Dirty Gold: An Album Leak That's Good News for Musicians". The Atlantic.
Hours after they leaked the album without the approval of the label, who had allegedly taken it down soon after the songs had spread across the Internet, Haze stated on Twitter that after talking with the executives, both parties agreed to release Dirty Gold on December 30, 2013 in the United States and the United Kingdom. The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 196. The record company also confirmed it was starting work towards a physical release of the album, which was scheduled for release in early in 2014 as it could not be manufactured by the end of December 2013.
== Critical reception ==
Dirty Gold received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a 66 score based on 19 reviews. Rowan Savage of Tiny Mix Tapes gave the album four and a half stars out of five, saying "Dirty Gold feels like a statement, an arrival." In a mixed review, Spin wrote, "Haze's attempt to appear undefinable and resist categorization (as Dirty Golds conversational interludes attest) is a laudable pursuit, but it leaves the record unfocused." In a more negative review, Kevin Ritchie of Now gave the album two out of five stars, saying "Haze is positioning herself as a top 40 infiltrator, which is fine, but she’s also diluted her uniqueness." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave the album four out of five stars, saying "It's a flawed debut, but it's also a brave and individual one: its best bits are flatly great, its attempt to harness pop-rap to serious topics is a pretty intrepid move."
Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club opined, "A labored crossover grab that mistakes conviction for substance, Dirty Gold marks Haze as just the latest in a long line of promising mixtape rappers to whiff a major-label debut." Eric Diep of XXL stated, "[Its] shortcomings overshadow the shining moments on the album as Haze struggles to find her identity, somewhere between underground rebel and mainstream player."
Mike Madden of Consequence of Sound gave the album a C+, saying "Dirty Gold is plenty inviting, sonically speaking, with patches of rock, EDM, and pop. It's problematic, however, that the album zones in on those genres with about as much specificity as those designators have."
== Track listing ==
Notes
* "Black Synagogue" features uncredited vocals from Wynter Gordon.
* "Black Dahlia" features an uncredited speech from Natalia Kills.
== Charts ==
Chart (2014) 	Peakposition
UK Albums 	
UK R&B Albums 	
US Heatseekers Albums	
== Release history ==
Region 	Date 	Format(s)	Label
Europe 	December 27, 2013	DL 	Island
North America 	December 30, 2013	DL 	Republic
United Kingdom	January 27, 2014 	CD 	Island
== References ==
Category:Albums
Category:Angel Haze albums
Category:Dirty Gold
Category:Studio albums