Damn, We Ruined Beyoncé’s Album Drop

The last time a Beyoncé album leaked, way back in 2011, someone over in Sweden got sued for $233,000 for uploading 4 to torrent sites—and led Beyoncé herself to drop the traditional album rollout. For her subsequent albums, Bey perfected the surprise drop—which made the traditional rollout she had planned for Renaissance all the more surprising. The album came with an advanced lead single, a tracklist release, and was set to be available in stores on the same day as its release on streaming sites this Friday.

Yet, here we are once again with another Beyoncé leak. According to Variety, “high-quality flac files” of the album’s tracks are now proliferating on the Internet. Images of the physical CD on store shelves have also emerged (the unconfirmed implication: some stores received the album shipment early and put it on shelves two days too early).

Beyoncé’s team nor her label, Columbia, have commented on the situation, but the Beyhive certainly has a lot to say.

The sixteen track album, said to be heavily influenced by dance music, is set to feature appearances by Jamaican rapper Beams, Nigerian singer Tems, and absolute pop icon Grace Jones. The album’s previously released songwriting credits also suggest tracks will sample music from Donna Summer, Teena Marie, and drag legends Kevin Aviance and Moi Renee.

Although the album has reportedly leaked, the Beyhive still has lots to look forward to—after all, Beyoncé has yet to release a music video for Renaissance.