Honey Cocaine is gearing up to release her upcoming EP, Like A Drug, and she has a bunch of things to clear up in the process. As she bursted onto the scene as protégé of Tyga, the recent distance between the two has a lot of people wondering what the deal is between them. XXL recently chopped it up with Honey about her new material, in the process discovering that she was never signed to Last Kings and has been an independent artist all along.

"I never was signed [to Last Kings]," Honey told XXL.  "It was more of a co-sign. There was talks of a deal but it just never happened. This whole time everyone thought I was signed, I wasn't. So now I'm just making that clear. I've done everything on my own but it's been a cool journey. People will know about it one day." She later added, "I'm always going to be the first queen. Everyone has their own path and I'm just following mine."

As Honey began to distance herself seemingly around the time she was shot while on tour with Tyga in March of 2012, many pondered if the shooting had anything to do with the distance. "That was pretty traumatizing," Honey said of the shooting. "It was a wake up call that I needed to be more careful and that my life is changing from what I was used to. It was also a sign from the universe itself that I'm blessed and I'm here for a purpose. God allowed me to live another day so I have to make these days count."

When asked about the connection between the two, she assures that being shot wasn't the reason she separated herself. "No, not at all. It was like a domino effect. I was on tour and the deal just never came up. He was busy with his own music. He's a growing artist and I'm still a growing artist."

However, although she is not penned to a deal now, the "Curve Ball" rapper hasn't given up on Tyga and her affiliation with Last Kings. "I've just been working," Honey Cocaine says. "[I'm] staying not distracted." And as far as her relationship with Tyga: "Real recognize real. It's just love, It's something that you can't explain to other people. It's a respect thing."

With all that behind her, Honey Cocaine is really excited about her new EP and she thinks it's going to be a big project. "My EP is a really dope project. I believe that all the hype around will really live up. I've been working on it really hard and I'm a more improved Honey. [I'm] more creative, more lyrical. I just feel like I've progressed as an artist. It's some shit that you can party to, some shit that you can chill to. I feel like my lyrical content has a lot more substance."

And about the passion behind the project, she says, "I feel like music was created because it's like a medicine to the world. Everybody in the world can find a sense of home and peace in music. To me that's like finding happiness. My type of music that I created for this project is like a drug."

Honey Cocaine's EP Like A Drug drops on Oct. 22.—Miranda Johnson

Previously: Honey Cocaine Featuring Michael Mazzé “Progress”
Honey Cocaine “Shots Fired”

More From XXL