Reporting By FLX

It all happened very fast for Trinidad James. Just two months after dropping his debut mixtape Don't Be S.A.F.E., the vehicle which carried his breakout single "All Gold Everything," the Atlanta rapper signed a reported $2 million dollar record deal with Def Jam in 2012. Earlier this month, the deal was dissolved and James was dropped from the label without ever releasing a debut album.

"I feel like we just had a difference of creative ideas," James explained to MTV News on Monday in Atlanta. "And for me personally, I know that I am somewhat of a person that's just gonna do it their own way... For me personally I don't think I needed a major at the point of time in my career that I was at."

James believes he is better suited as an independent artist right now and he has no hard feelings against the label he once called home.

"I appreciate Def Jam for everything that they taught me and they're not bad people. It's just that they're a business man, it's life, you just have to understand that and I definitely do," he said. "Right now for me personally, I just really want to get back to the people. That's what matters the most. I feel that going through all these label situations and going through everything that I've been through the last couple of years, the only thing that matters right now is the people that love me."

The next step for Trinidad is to find his dedicated fan base and strengthen his relationship with them. "I was in the midst of trying to find who those people were, that's what this album for," he said of the LP he was working on at Def Jam. "I wanted to take the people who care on a musical journey. So it's almost like, 'Hey if you're a real true Trinidad James fan raise your hand so that we could put you on a separate island,' so we'll know what my actual core following is."