Lil Wayne's New Album "Leaked"

Surprise, surprise.

Lil Wayne's Rebirth album has "leaked" several months before its official release date (last time we checked, Feb. 1). But don't blame the blogosphere this time.

Billboard.com reports Amazon "erroneously" shipped 500 copies of Rebirth, Lil Wayne's upcoming rock album, this week to customers who pre-ordered it. Weezy's distributor, Universal Motown, have now recalled all CDs from Amazon.

Rebirth, which was to be released Dec. 21, has now been pushed back to Feb. 1, but MTV News reports copies of the album started showing up in people's mailboxes on Monday (Dec. 14).

The "leak" is good news for fans who've been anticipating the long-delayed album since last spring, but it's likely bad news for those looking to purchase it in stores.

Prior to Amazon's "blunder," three of Rebirth's tracks had already surfaced on the internet, including "Drop The World," featuring Eminem, which appeared at various outlets on Tuesday (Dec. 15).

In anticipation of Rebirth, the New Orleans rapper had officially released two singles, "On Fire" and "Prom Queen," along with October's No Ceilings mixtape. But a full "leak" of the album is a game-changer.

Billboard.com speculates that label executives might now rework the album and add new tracks — delaying its release even further. That, of course, builds even more excitement for the album.

If you think this feels like deja vu, you're not the only one.

In 2007, five tracks from Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III "leaked." It wasn't Amazon's fault of Amazon — rather, new Weezy tracks started appearing on various DJ mixtapes. He not only took exception to the early release of the tracks, but also the quality of the mixes.

"I created the mixtape game, but I'm not into that no more," he told XXL, prior to the release of Tha Carter III. "I'm doing Lil Wayne. I'm against it, anti-mixtape, dude. I don't know no mixtape DJs."

Still, we find that a little difficult to believe, as Weezy turned the well-timed "leaks" into a sly marketing opportunities. The "stolen" tracks were eventually released officially in the form The Leak EP, while Tha Carter III's release was shifted from December 2007 to June 2008.

That album's delay appeared paid off. Tha Carter III's hype continued to build, and the album sold explosively in its first week, moving over 1 million units, according to Nielsen Soundscan. It's a feat no other artist has repeated since, and for his efforts, he was rewarded with eight Grammy nominations.

But in terms of milestones, here's one we'd like to see: a Weezy album released on time.