Initially planned to be released in 2007, "Tha Carter III"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s largest delay came after the majority of the tracks were leaked and distributed on mixtapes, such as "The Drought Is Over Pt. 2" and "The Drought Is Over Pt. 4". Lil Wayne initially decided to use the leaked tracks, plus four new tracks, to make a separate album, titled "". "The Leak" was to be released December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until March 18, 2008, The release of "The Leak" in this format never came to fruition, but an official EP titled "The Leak" and containing five tracks was released digitally on December 25, 2007.