Houston-based rapper Lil' Flip has parted ways with Sony Music Group, which issued his last two studio albums. Flip's latest set, "I Need Mine," was scheduled for release earlier this week but will now remain under wraps until a new label partner is found.

Asked why the Sony deal didn't pan out, Flip's manager Sandy Lal would tell Billboard only that, "A label like Sony is not the place for an artist like Flip." Contrary to a published report, Lil' Flip has not signed with Asylum/Warner Bros. Lal said the artist is "very close" to signing a new deal but that "it could be done in an hour or it might take a month."

Lal added that he anticipates the track list for "I Need Mine" will remain relatively the same once it sees release. The album is the follow-up to 2004's "U Gotta Feel Me," which debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

As previously reported, Lil' Flip will be on hand for a July 22 concert celebrating late Houston hip-hop legend DJ Screw in Pasadena, Texas. He also appears on the CD/DVD "DJ Screw: The Untold Story," due July 18 via Double Platinum Entertainment.