LIL WAYNE'S ROCK ALBUM REBIRTH IS PUSHED BACK TILL FEB. 2010!

Stop me if you've heard this one before: After bumping around to various December dates, Lil Wayne's perpetually delayed rock-influenced album Rebirth has now been pushed to a 2010 release.
Wayne's Cash Money boss, Baby (a.k.a. Bryan "Birdman" Williams), announced on Twitter Wednesday that the album, which has had more than half a dozen release dates so far, has now been pushed back from a December 21 street date to February 1. "Rebirth album pushback Feb. 1," Baby tweeted, adding, "Young Money [coming] out December 21." So, while the compilation album from Weezy's Young Money All-Stars, which was supposed to be bundled with Rebirth, appears to still be on track for a holiday release, fans will now have to wait a few more months for Wayne's disc.

A spokesperson for Wayne's label, Universal, did not return requests for comment on the latest delay in the album, which the rapper has been tinkering with nonstop as track after track from the effort has leaked over the past six-plus months.

"Yes, the album is still rock," Wayne told Billboard magazine about the disc in October, after confusion arose over whether it really represented a trip to the rock side for the rapper fond of strapping on a guitar onstage. "I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there's a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album. But I don't want people to think I'm trying to do something I can't do. Don't think you're going to put on the album and hear me screaming and singing.

"When I said I was doing a rock album, it was about doing a freedom thing," he continued. "This album isn't hip-hop. When I do my Carter albums, I know I've got to rap, I know I've got to spit. I know the words I've got to say and the subjects I've got to talk about. I also know the things I shouldn't say, the things I shouldn't talk about. There's none of those limits on this album. I say what I want, how I want. That's what this album is: a freedom album."

While frustration among fans is growing due to the multiple delays for the first new studio album from Wayne since 2008's smash Tha Carter III — it was first slated to street in April, then May, then August, then several dates in December — it's worth keeping in mind that Carter III suffered a similar fate prior to its release and went on to be the best-selling album of the year.

Though Wayne's camp is not discussing the reason for the latest delay, the new February release date, if confirmed, does fall around the time that the rapper is expected to be sentenced to a one-year prison term following his October guilty plea for attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.