Wiley on leaking his album: 'The Americans do it so why shouldn't I?' Wiley Tickets

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Grime pioneer Wiley has leaked his new album 'The Ascent' to the internet, two weeks before its official April 1 release date on Warner Records.

Taking to Twitter to explain his actions, the rapper wrote: "I am leaking my album at 7… Americans do it so I am doing it… If ITunes don’t do what I say I am leaking the album at 7 and I am not joking… I made a mistake on the album I need to make a change if iTunes cannot change the mistake I will leak it…………. today…” He concluded: "I hate being a idiot but sometimes people only listen when you are being a idiot."

Sure enough, Wiley did leak his album via file sharing service Sendspace last night (March 19). The file has since been deleted, but is already appearing on torrent sites. Fact magazine suggests that the unexplained dispute with iTunes could relate to a tracklist edit, given that the leaked version is missing one track.

Wiley – who scored his first Number 1 in 2012 with the track 'Heatwave' recently told MTV he intends to retire following the next album after 'The Ascent'. “Even though getting to the top of the charts is a big deal, people forget that I’ve been doing music for 15 years now and, yeah, I could keep releasing music and chasing another hit, but I want my next project after The Ascent album to be my last – I’m planning on retiring around the end of 2014 or 2015."

He continued: "I just want to Alex Ferguson it and just leave things there! [Laughs]. By then things might have changed in the industry; I really can’t predict the future, but I know that me and Warner [Records] have got our last album to do and it’s in writing. I’ll be around 38-years old so that’s cool – I’ll just be stretched out chilling by the time I get to 39."

Click below to see Wiley telling the story behind 'Heatwave'.

Video: Wiley, 'Heatwave' - Song Stories

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