Tha Carter III was named the "#1 most anticipated album of 2007" by XXL, but was changed to a 2008 release date. The cover, featuring a baby picture of Lil Wayne, follows designs of album covers done by American rappers Nas (Illmatic) and The Notorious B.I.G. (Ready to Die).

Lil Wayne stated that producers will include The Alchemist, Cool & Dre, Deezle, Jim Jonsin, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Mannie Fresh, The Runners, Scott Storch, Timbaland, Danja, Arash, and will.i.am. In an interview with HipHopCanada.com, Solitair of the Black Jays stated that he and Cipha Sounds produced a track for Lil Wayne's "new project" (possibly referring to Tha Carter III). The Runners have stated that they have produced three tracks for Tha Carter III. Lil Wayne revealed that he has written a track for Eminem, which he has yet to send to him. He described this song as the "craziest". However, it was mentioned that Eminem turned down the request.

Collaborators include Fabolous, T-Pain, Birdman, Enrique Iglesias, The Game, Nelly Furtado, Robin Thicke, Jay-Z, Juelz Santana, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and Busta Rhymes. MTV reported that Wyclef Jean worked on a couple of tracks for the album and that a song featuring Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Timbaland is likely to appear on the album. However, that Timbaland produced track did not make the final cut. David Banner confirmed that he will be credited for five tracks on the final cut of Tha Carter III. Swizz Beatz has stated he is also working on the album.

The video for the second single, "A Milli", was set to be released in May. Multiple versions of the track were be included on the album as "skit-like" tracks, featuring artists such as Tyga, Cory Gunz, Hurricane Chris and Lil Mama. Another artist, 13-year-old Lil Chucky, is also set to appear on one of the "A Milli" skits. Many of the skits did not end up making the final album.

When asked about how many tracks Kanye West has contributed, he answered: "On the first visit he had 5 joints. On the second visit he gave me a CD with 15 joints on it. I then told him to slow down and he left me alone. But we got a good three on the album." He confirmed that he had a few tracks on The Leak that are produced by Kanye West.

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After most of the album leaked on the Internet in mid-2007, Lil Wayne used the leaked tracks, plus four new songs to make an album titled The Leak. The Leak was to be officially released on December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until June 10, 2008. When questioned about the unplanned leak, Lil Wayne said:

We have to find out exactly what's out there. I'll probably just [collect] all the songs that's floating around and make my own mixtape called "The Leak" since people want the music so bad. To tell you the truth though, there's a song I did with Kanye West out there—of course you want to save that for your album, but the rest of them songs probably wouldn't have made the album. There's a song floating around that says 'produced by Timbaland'; Tim didn't produce that record though.

On May 24th, 10 second snippets of multiple songs were leaked onto AT&T Media Mall.

On May 30th-31st, Tha Carter III was leaked internationally. The first of the leaks were distributed on May 30th at around 8pm where five songs from the track list were available on the internet. Hours later on May 31st at 12am-1am the whole album was leaked and posted on various websites for free download. The DJ responsible for the leaks was DJ Chuck T who retaliated for an interview conducted by Wayne, where he discredited all DJ's and the mixtape scene days before.

Lil Wayne later called DJ Drama's radio show Shade 45 Sirius Satellite Radio to explain that his comments were meant specifically for the Empire DJ's who leaked his materials periodically without his permission, consent, or knowledge; he also apologized for any misunderstandings between him and the numerous DJ's that have aided him in the mixtape industry. He made it clear, however, that he wished for any feelings of dislike or resentment to remain.