What a November it has been for leaked hip-hop tracks and albums. I can't remember anything like this. AZ's The Format, Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, the Game's Doctor's Advocate, Jay-Z's Kingdom Come, and the Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury have all leaked this month, creating a ton of activity on XXL's "Bangers" page and minor pandemonium on the world wide web. Why is this happening? We know that the Game leaked his own album, but what about Snoop, Jay-Z, and the Clipse? Are the labels responsible? Rogue reviewers with their advanced copies? The artists themselves?

Theories abound about rationales and strategies, but whatever the reason for this epidemic, it makes for some fun trolling on the Internet. The plan is to get full reviews of the Jay-Z and Clipse albums up over the weekend and maybe even Snoop if there is time (although I'm already ruling out a track-by-track format considering that Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is a whopping 22 cuts). For now, it seems like a good time to weigh in on Nas' upcoming Hip-Hop is Dead, based on the handful of leaked tracks that are floating around in cyberspace.

Note that this is not a prediction of the finished album's quality, as I was kind of hard on Jay-Z's first three songs, but ultimately really liked Kingdom Come (which puts me in the minority it seems, but we'll save that for the album review). Not only that, but I'm not even sure which tracks are going to wind up on Hip-Hop is Dead.

"Hip-Hop is Dead" - The title track is the latest almost-great rap song that will.i.am has managed to mangle just enough to legitimately depress me. I honestly don't know how he has managed to infiltrate the upper echelon of hip-hop, but he needs to be stopped. If he wants to make millions by peddling "Fergalicious" and "Beep" to the masses, then more power to him. But please, stay off my favorite artists' albums.

The Black Eyed Peas producer already screwed up, "Compton," a potentially great cut from the Game's Doctor's Advocate ("gangsta boogie!") and now he has done some damage to the title track from Nas' new album by inserting a ridiculous electric guitar riff into the chorus. My brother once noted that electric guitars rarely work in hip-hop and usually only when Kanye is involved. For every "Takeover," there are a dozen Diddy songs like "All About the Benjamins" or that hideous Robert Plant remake from Godzilla. Add "Hip-Hop is Dead" to that list, which is a real shame, because the rest of the beat is pretty solid. The drums kicking in before each verse, followed by a very nice progressive bass line gives Nas' bars a solid framework, and most of will.i.am's clever little tricks (the piano twinkle, the burst of congas, the crowd chanting) work out okay. But can a song be really good with a cringe-worthy chorus?