Childish Gambino might not deliver his new album as promised, following a leak of his upcoming single “Lithonia” hitting the internet before its scheduled release.
In a video clip from his recent Instagram Live, Gambino appeared frustrated over the leak, which was scheduled for release on July 2. As the Atlanta creator began venting, he explained why he was upset about the situation, which he felt devalued “Lithonia” and contributes to the larger disconnect between artists and their fans.
“And then, yeah, ‘Lithonia,’ the rollout like ‘Lithonia,’ is coming out July 2, that got leaked, kind of p##### me off to be honest,” he said in part. “That’s another reason why y’all don’t get good s###. It is just for what it is. Don’t, it’s not valuable enough.”
Gambino also accused streaming website and artist platform Audiomack of perpetrating the leak.
“It is just a single and I know who did it. Audiomack,” he said in part. “F###### no suit for you, y’all. You’re not getting the album now. That’s what time I’m on.”
In the aftermath of Childish Gambino’s wrath, Audiomack released a statement regarding the leak, which it claims was caused by user interference.
“This morning, we learned that an Audiomack user correctly guessed the URL for Childish Gambino’s already-announced new single, revealing a July 2 release date,” a rep for the streamer told Billboard. “The music itself was never playable. We already have a fix in place, which we are rolling out now.”
Though Gambino didn’t disclose a date, he did promise the release of a subsequent album this summer immediately after the ATAVISTA project dropped. Fans shared mixed reviews about it, which essentially re-worked his 2020 album, 3-15-20.
Check out the clip above.
