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M.I.A. Threatens to Leak Her Album

Label tension causes rapper to take drastic measures.

M.I.A. will leak her new album if Interscope Records doesn't release the project soon. On Twitter last night, the British lyricist blasted the label for holding up the release of Matangi, her fourth effort. "Who would stop Matangi from coming out?" she tweeted. "If Interscope takes longer i can always leak this next week and make a new one by the time they are ready."

Thus far, M.I.A. has debuted two singles off the album, "Bring the Noize" and "Only 1 U,"

Matangi, a play on her birth name, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasm, was originally slated for an April release, but was pushed back because of its content. "At the moment, I've been told it's too positive," M.I.A. explained in an interview with Australian website Goldcoast.com. "So we're having a bit of an issue at the label. They're, like, 'You need to like darken it up a bit.' I'm taking my time to decide what they mean. It's an interesting one for me."

Her act of defiance apparently worked. According to The Stashed, Interscope announced a Nov. 5 release date for Matangi.

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(Photo: Dominic Chan/WENN.com)

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