F**k off and stop stealing’ - DJ Tira, Lvovo & Shimza slam Fakaza after Cassper album ‘leak’

Several big-name musicians have lambasted music download service Fakaza for “leaking” rapper Cassper Nyovest's new album ahead of its release on Friday.

Beady-eyed fans spotted Cassper's highly-anticipated album, Any Minute Now, listed on the popular service on Thursday, several hours before its official release.

The discovery led to the service trending on Twitter, as users weighed in on the leak.

Among those adding their voice to the debate was DJ Tira, who swore at the service for “stealing” from artists.

Lvovo agreed with Tira's comments and said artists needed to work together to defeat piracy and streaming services from exploiting the industry.

“Music streaming: I propose that South African laws restrict and regulate streaming services! The artists are struggling! At least if a song was R2 the artists would be in a better place! 90% of artists never make money from sales, we're just donating to these platforms!”

He said artists were “suffering” and the government needed to step in.

“If people can buy takeaways they can buy music. It serves the same purpose! Music heals, entertains and music is valuable! Respect arts!” he added.

DJ Shimza said many people justified pirating music because they believed that they were supporting their favs by doing so.

“Thing is people will justify downloading music on Fakaza because they still believe they supporting the artist or even give reasons why they do.”

He also dismissed suggestions that artists should instead work with the service in collaboration.

“It’s like saying the cops must collaborate with criminals,” Shimza pointed out.

He said it would be better to listen to your favs on YouTube, where at least the artist may get revenue from streams.

An account claiming to represent “Fakaza Mag”, acknowledged that the service was trending and said it would remove Cassper's album. It added that sometimes artists send their music to the service themselves.

“Fakaza is trending for six hours now. OK. We get it. The album will be removed, but the criticism is too much. Some artists still send their stuff to us,” it read.