The Leak

After five songs from the sessions for the hotly anticipated *Tha Carter III* leaked online, Wayne made lemonade out of lemons by compiling them for his first-ever EP. Weezy’s bars are purposeful and passionate on “Gossip,” a soul-sampling missive against his critics. And on the epic “I’m Me,” filled with sly references to songs from earlier in his deep catalog, he reaffirms that regardless of *Carter III*’s delays, he’s still the best rapper alive.

This EP-- ranging in quality from absolute bangers to intriguing sketches-- hit online stores like iTunes and Amazon on Christmas Day with zero fanfare, and it seems to tell us little about how Weezy's forthcoming Tha Carter 3 might eventually sound