Iggy Azalea, Amethyst Amelia Kelly

Iggy Azalea reached out to Southern rapper T.I., for the direction of her debut album. The Atlanta rapper was set to executive produce The New Classic, soon after a phone call the two had. At the time, Azalea was eyeing a summer release for her debut, The New Classic: "Hopefully if all goes to plan, my album will be out in June and I'll have it recorded by the end of the month." However, after Interscope did not allow T.I. to be an on-going part of her deal, Azalea opted not to sign with the major label and stay independently signed to Grand Hustle Records until the release of her first album, which had then been postponed. In early 2012, Azalea was featured on the cover of XXL, as part of its annual "Top 10 Freshmen List", along with fellow up-and-coming rappers French Montana, MGK, Danny Brown, Hopsin, and Roscoe Dash. On 1 March 2012, T.I. announced he signed Azalea to Grand Hustle Records along with rappers Chip and Trae tha Truth. On 26 March 2012, Azalea posted "Murda Bizness", the intended lead single for The New Classic, on her YouTube account. The song was produced by Bei Maejor and features her Grand Hustle label-boss T.I..
In April 2012, via her Twitter feed, Azalea announced plans to release an EP entitled Glory later in May. "I'm just onto something right now, the last two weeks and it's glory. Azaleans need something new." Also in April, Azalea starred alongside Grammy-nominated producer Diplo and FKi in the world's first fully interactive 'shoppable' music video for Canadian fashion retailer, SSENSE. In May 2012, it was confirmed by T.I., on MTV's HipHopPov, that Azalea had not yet secured distribution for her deal with Grand Hustle Records, and was described by T.I. as a "free agent". It was later revealed in the interview that she is in negotiations with labels other than Interscope and possibly Def Jam (wherein Bu Thiam, whom of which originally placed a bid to sign her is VP of A&R). Azalea was also featured on Steve Aoki and Angger Dimas' collaborative electronic track "Beat Down", which was released on 31 May 2012.
In June 2012, it was announced Azalea signed with Wilhelmina Models International Inc., a prominent model and celebrity agency in the fashion industry, boasting notable entertainers such as Fergie, Estelle, and Natasha Bedingfield. Azalea released "Millionaire Misfits", the second offering from her EP Glory, the first being "Murda Bizness", on 24 June 2012. On 21 July, the official music video for "Murda Buziness" was released online. Glory, Azalea's debut EP, although not released in May, as it was originally scheduled, was released 30 July 2012. In September 2012, Levi's announced Iggy Azalea as the face of their new "Go Forth" campaign. Azalea was also one of the acts on MTV's 2012 'Closer To My Dreams Tour', along with Tyga and Kirko Bangz. Azalea also appeared in House of Holland's first eyewear collection campaign. On 28 September 2012, Azalea announced she would be releasing her second mixtape on 11 October 2012. Titling it TrapGold, the mixtape was produced entirely by Diplo and FKi. She later premiered teaser visuals for the track "Bac 2 Tha Future (My Time)". On 9 October 2012, Azalea made her US national television debut, appearing alongside T.I., B.o.B and other Grand Hustle artists in a cypher, at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. Later that month, she embarked on yet another North American mini-concert tour with Roc Nation singer-songwriter Rita Ora, on the MTV Presents The ORA Tour. Azalea then headlined a tour in Europe to support TrapGold. On 16 December 2012, Azalea performed live alongside Natasha Bedingfield and Bootsy Collins, covering Deee-Lite's 1990 hit disco song "Groove Is in the Heart", on the annual television show VH1 Divas.