Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you were probably recently made aware Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly hit iTunes a week early. Individual tracks are trending, Top Dawg is going in on Interscope and Taylor Swift is rejoicing.
None of it means Kendrick won’t see successful first week sales. If Beyonce and Jay Z can survive a leak, there’s still hope. The nostalgic days of not hearing an album weeks (sometimes months) in advance are over. Lets revisit 14 infamous album leaks to see how history stacks up for K.Dot.
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photo: Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope
Drake – Thank Me Later
When Drake’s major label debut leaked, he digitally shrugged it off by tweeting, “I gave away free music for years so we’re good over here…just allow it to be the soundtrack to your summer and ENJOY! JUNE 15th!”
50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
Morpheus and other networks were in full effect when 50 dropped Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ in 2003. To combat the cyber leaks, Interscope moved the release date up one week. The album sold 872,000 in four days.
Kanye West – The College Dropout
Who didn’t have a bootleg of The College Dropout? After his album leaked, ‘Ye scrapped the original version of “All Falls Down,” while tracks like “Heavy Hitters” and “Keep The Receipt” were left on the cutting room floor.
Beyoncé – 4
What else would you expect from Queen Bey but a classy statement saying, “My music was leaked and while this is not how I wanted to present my new songs, I appreciate the positive response from my fans.” She wasn’t having that ish with the next album though, as she opted for a surprise release.
Eminem – The Eminem Show
Aftermath/Interscope already had a contingency for 50 because Eminem’s The Eminem Show was all over peer-to-peer networks about a month before its late May release. The release date was bumped up, and Slim Shady saw 284,000 units sold in less than 48 hours—which was a SoundScan record at the time.
Jay Z – Vol. 3…The Life And Times Of S. Carter
Jay Z got so heated over Lance “Un” Rivera allegedly leaking his album that he stabbed him at Q-Tip’s album release party. Un wasn’t the only one to suffer. The original version of “Is That Your Chick” resurfaced on a Memphis Bleek album, and nobody wins when that happens.
A$AP Rocky – Long.Live.A$AP
“Lord Jodye Flacko” got hit with a massive leak in 2013, as his project hit the web about a month before its proper release date. Rocky was so excited for people to hear the music that he didn’t spaz, and Polo Grounds started handing out take down notices like Halloween candy. For what it’s worth, A$AP still landed at the top of the SoundScan Top 200 chart.
Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday
Pink Friday hit the Internet roughly a week before it hit shelves and online retailers. Much like Drake, Nicki shrugged it off and tweeted, “Tap yo neighbor and say #itsPinkFridayHoe,” to indicate she was aware of the leak. It surely doesn’t look like the leak stalled her career.
Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
We got a sneak peek at Lupe’s tantrum throwing ways when his debut hit the Internets early. But he and Atlantic used the opportunity to scrap some cuts and add others. Despite the leak, the album was embraced by critics and Lupe still debuted at the top spot on Billboard magazine’s Rap & R&B charts.
Nas – Nastradamus/I Am…
Before there were digital leaks on peer-to-peer sites, the bootleggers got their hands on Nas’ third album. The true crime was how paying fans got cheated out of dope songs like “Blaze A 50” and “Poppa Was a Playa.” Instead fans got “You Owe Me,” and we all know how that went.
Snoop Dogg – Tha Last Meal
Former Death Row executive Suge Knight leaked every track from the album on both his and the Death Row site. What was to be Snoop Dogg’s Priority Records swan song ended up going platinum, while Priority settled out of court for allegedly not paying Snoop his $950,000 advance.
Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions
Hopes of cashing in on her international appeal took a hit when Mary J. Blige’s 2014 album, The London Sessions, leaked over a month early. She saw a modest debut with 55,000 units sold, but considering she’s already sold over 24 million, she’s good.
Angel Haze – Dirty Gold
Presumably out of frustration, Angel Haze leaked her own debut album in 2015. Her label had no choice but to properly release the album, so she won?
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
The official word from Top Dawg is that Internet kind of messed this one up. After hitting iTunes (and then every digital bootlegger you can imagine) a week early, the album was removed early Monday morning. We’ll see the result in two weeks.
