Beyoncé's new album Renaissance 'leaked' online hours before release

Beyoncé fans have urged each other to respect the popstar by waiting until the album's official release to listen. Credit: AP

Beyoncé's new album Renaissance was reportedly leaked online just days before its scheduled release.

The 40-year-old singer's highly anticipated new music, which was set to be released at 5am on Friday, appears to have been leaked around 36 hours early, Variety reported.

Beyoncé fans, known as the Beyhive, took to social media to urge others to wait for Beyoncé to release the music officially before listening.

Beyonce to release new album 'Renaissance' after six-year hiatus

"Y'all can't be Beyoncé fans & leak her stuff. It's been 6 yrs & in less than 48 hrs, we'll ALL have access to the music. Pls don't ruin it for everyone, especially not Bey who has put 2 yrs of hard work into this new era that we BEGGED for," one user tweeted.

"Pease respect Beyoncé, don't listen to the leaked songs, she worked hard for it not to be leaked," another said.

On Wednesday, Twitter disabled multimedia tweets containing the word "leak" as well as the hashtags #Renaissance and #Beyonce, which it said was “in response to a report by the copyright owner."

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This suggests Beyoncé's team were working to remove the leak from the internet.

The Grammy winning singer released “Break My Soul,” the album’s lead single, in June, and has since been sharing more details about her latest work.

"Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving," she said on Instagram.

"My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration."

Beyoncé who has been married to rapper and businessman Jay-Z since 2008, made history last year when she became the most decorated female artist at the Grammy Awards.

She won four awards out of nine nominations, making it 28 over her career, which surpasses the 27 of bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. Beyonce and Jay-Z had daughter Blue Ivy in January 2012, and in June 2017 she gave birth to twins Rumi and Sir.