MTV News caught up with Iggy on a recent promo run in NYC and the rapper revealed that the Kang himself requested to be a part of her project. "T.I.'s gonna be helping me with it, kind of A&R-ing, kind of executive producing," said Iggy. "He called me up like, 'Please?' and I was like, 'Definitely. You're Tip; I love you—of course.' So he's gonna be helping me out, just reaching out to people and helping me find production and pointing me in the direction of things that I might like."

She has never worked with T.I. before but there is an obvious admiration factor in place with the Grand Hustle CEO. Azalea plans to visit Tip's kingdom to link up on the project, joking about both of the artists' recent traveling handicaps (The Australian rapper has immigration obstacles which have hampered her from doing U.S. shows in the past).

"I'll probably fly out to Atlanta and we'll do it there because he's weird with traveling and stuff. I understand. See we're in touch with each other. I have legal issues; he has legal issues. I get it," she jested.

The neophyte rapper sounded optimistic that the recording process will go smoothly on her major label debut. "If all goes to plan, my album will be out in June and I'll have it recorded by the end of the month," she added. "Hopefully, [the collaboration with T.I.] will be really dynamic and it'll help speed things along.”

Rumors had been swirling that she would join the Def Jam roster, but Azalea took to Twitter to set the record straight. "Interscope, if you were wondering," she tweeted. Azalea also revealed the title of her highly anticipated debut. "Album in june entitled 'f*ck your life' nah.... not realllyyyy its called 'The New Classic'.'

Never one to downplay her talents, Azalea praised her music, while giving a shout out to her new boss, label head Jimmy Iovine. "Get used to me + jimmy smashing sh*t, cause thats the plan."

We spoke with the 21-year-old about her nomination for a spot on the coveted XXL 2012 Freshman Class, where she revealed that the opening of this year would bring a record deal. Azalea recently had dinner with Def Jam VP Bu Thiam, furthering speculation that a Def Jam deal was imminent, but it appears that Interscope was the victor in a possible bidding war.

The industry has been buzzing about Azalea for everything from her eclectic fashion sense, her romance with fellow newcomer A$AP Rocky, and even minting her as competition for the game's current top-selling female rapper, Nicki Minaj. The Hip-Hop world will have to wait for the June release of The New Classic to see if she can translate her online popularity into album sales.

50 Cent spoke with Spike TV live from the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The rapper/actor/entrepreneur was promoting his Sleek headphones and also mentioned some of his tribulations with Interscope Records.

As for why he started selling headphones, 50 told Spike, "It's an extension to my passion for music. 'Cause I spend more time in the studio actually mixing material, making sure that the sound quality is right than the actual creating the idea. The song writing process is faster for me than actually finishing the song, the mixing."

Fif went on to say that his were the best wireless headphones, going as far to say they're better than Dr. Dre's Beats By Dre wireless models. Although the "In The Club" rapper has dropped plenty of music to be heard on his headphones lately, such as The Big 10 mixtape, music via his Interscope Record label has been sporadic. When asked about his recent tweets about his career, first lambasting Interscope and then later apologizing to Jimmy Iovine, Fif expressed frustration.

"I wrote this album," he said. "I went through the process of writing it and it's been discouraging at points to not see the same effort from everyone."

Interscope denied taking part in any drug-related operations.

"The information being reported in the press regarding Interscope Records' involvement with the ongoing criminal prosecution of James Rosemond is both erroneous and completely unsupported."

"Interscope Records has been informed by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York that there is no evidence that any employee of UMG or Interscope Records had any involvement in the drug trafficking ring being prosecuted by that office, nor any knowledge of the contents of any of the packages that were purportedly shipped to its offices."

The statement goes on to say,

"Further, neither UMG nor Interscope Record are a subject or target of the investigation. UMG and Interscope will continue to cooperate with the United States Attorney's Office regarding this matter."

Jimmy Henchman Used To Ship Cocaine, Cash At Interscope Records

The office of Interscope Records is coming under scrutiny now that the Smoking Gun reports that it was at one time, a helm for drugs and cash.

As previously reported  James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond was arrested following a month long manhunt and charged with intentionally conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

According to The Smoking Gun, Department of Justice prosecutors revealed shipping records detailing “pickups and deliveries” made at Interscope's Los Angeles office that was used to transport music cases stuffed with kilos of cocaine and upwards of $1 million in cash.

Rosemond is ultimately facing 18 felony charges which could result in a sentence of life in prison for the 46-year-old rap music manager.

He is currently being held without bail in Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The office of Interscope Records is coming under scrutiny now that the Smoking Gun reports that it was at one time, a helm for drugs and cash.

As previously reported  James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond was arrested following a month long manhunt and charged with intentionally conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

According to The Smoking Gun, Department of Justice prosecutors revealed shipping records detailing “pickups and deliveries” made at Interscope's Los Angeles office that was used to transport music cases stuffed with kilos of cocaine and upwards of $1 million in cash.

Rosemond is ultimately facing 18 felony charges which could result in a sentence of life in prison for the 46-year-old rap music manager.

He is currently being held without bail in Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Earlier this month, 50 Cent threw Def Jam under the bus when he joked the label was "80 million in the hole" and unable to sign G-Unit artist Lloyd Banks to a deal.

Barry Weiss, the Chairman/CEO of Island Def Jam and Universal Motown Republic, spoke with Global Grind to put an end to rumors that Def Jam is operating in the red.

"I don't know what the f*ck they're talking about," Weiss said to Global Grind.

"Def Jam is not broke, it's on fire!!

"We just did a deal with Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music and Big Sean's album is a great success and will continue to garner a lot of attention.

"Kanye and Jay-Z's Watch The Throne has the whole world buzzing.

"Jeezy got an album coming out and his show last night in NYC has the whole industry excited.

"Rihanna just ended her amazing tour of her amazing album. Frank Ocean is on the verge of super stardom.

"Rick Ross and so many other great artists are part of our incredible roster.

"Of course we are looking to maximize our potential and are in search of additional African-American leadership to take us to the next level.

"But, let me be clear, Def Jam is on fire."

Weiss didn't mention Justin Bieber, but he's on Island Def Jam, and he's having a pretty good year too, right?

Judging by Weiss' statement, things seem to be just fine at Island Def Jam.

On the other hand, reports this week stating that 50 Cent canceled the release of his next album, show that things over at 50's own label home, Interscope, might not be all together.

Beanie Sigel sat with MTV and gave some insight on his past with Jay-Z and how he was blocked from joining 50 Cent's G-Unit roster.

When Beans got out of prison in 2005, he was still on Roc-a-fella and an artist on Def Jam. He spoke with 50 Cent, who then had his label on Interscope and was willing to do a joint venture with Sigel.

"[50] wanted to give me a label, a whole label deal ... and a whole lot of money too."

The Broad Street Bully didn't just jump ship, he went to Hov to ask for separation from the parent label.

"I told him I had to roll. 'If you can't make that situation happen for me, I gotta leave. I gotta go,' " he explained.

"I asked him to just let me go — from Def Jam, not from Roc-A-Fella — because he was the president of Def Jam. 'I want to leave Def Jam, I'm out. You're the president, you can push that button. Let me get my release papers.' "

But the president of the historic label didn't really give his protege a negative response, he simply stalled. "He was like, 'Nah, let me see what I could do.' That 'see what I could do' turned into another two years."

State Property cohort, Freeway did however pull off a joint deal with G-Unit and Def Jam that was short-lived and was rumored to have gone down without the official approval of Jay.

Does Beans have a right to be a little salty?

Lloyd is the latest celebrity to pose for famed photographer Derek Blanks in a one of a kind alter ego photo shoot.

In the shoot the R&B crooner shows his transformation from ‘Long Hair Don't Care' to the ‘King Of Hearts', his new persona for his new album.

As previously reported King Of Hearts features Andre 3000, Trey Songz, Chris Brown, R. Kelly, Keri Hilson, Teyana Taylor, Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne.

King of Hearts drops July 5.

Check out Lloyd's latest photo shoot below.

Though he was finally given a November release for his fifth solo album, 50 Cent is still at odds with his home record label Interscope Records.

In a recent interview with MTV, Fif implied that he could part ways with the label following his album if things don't go his way.

"It will all be clear in the negotiations following me turning this actual album in," he said. " And, of course, the performance and how they actually treat the work will determine whether you still want to stay in that position or not." 

 

Curtis added that if he feels the Interscope machine is supporting his projects that staying is the right thing to do, but admits that he's not afraid to take the indie route.

"It's not like you're gonna be able to make a project bigger than the actual project is, but if the songs are right and you have full support and you feel that support, why would you want to go anywhere else?" he added.

"If not, if you don't have that support, why would you want to sign to another system? In the financial state that I'm in, you just do it yourself."