Within months, I AM MUSIC.zip becomes the most leaked, re-zipped, and torrented “non-album” of the decade. Merch drops include USB drives shaped like coffins, pre-loaded with a corrupted version of the file. Carti never acknowledges it live, but fans hold up signs saying “EXTRACT ME.”

For over four years, Carti kept fans on the hook by previewing snippets of unreleased music on social media and performing new tracks at live shows. This drip-feed of content turned the community into a hive mind, constantly piecing together potential tracklists from low-quality Instagram clips and grainy concert footage. In the absence of an official release, many of Carti's most anticipated songs were only available as leaks —tracks that had been illicitly obtained and shared online. For a long time, the only way to hear rumored album highlights like "H00DBYAIR," "2024," or "KETAMINE" was to hunt down these leaked files.

Example simple M3U: #EXTM3U 1 - Track One.mp3 2 - Track Two.mp3