Iggy Azalea explains album delay: 'I kind of had my personal life fall apart'

Iggy Azalea was set to release Digital Distortion in July - until she discovered Young had been cheating on her. Photo / AP

Iggy Azalea has revealed she is overhauling her second album after her romance with basketballer Nick Young fell apart.

The Australian rapper was set to release Digital Distortion (the follow-up to 2014's debut The New Classic) in July - until she discovered Young had been cheating on her.

In a candid interview, the 26-year-old said the shock of Young's infidelity - and her new single status - made her want to rework her material.

Iggy Azalea with her ex Nick Young who she caught Young cheating on home video footage. Photo / AP

"It's no secret, I kind of had my personal life fall apart," The X Factor judge told People magazine.

"I needed a lot of time," she said. "I mean, you wake up one morning and your fiance is having a baby with someone else, you're going to need some time, right?"

Azalea called it quits with Young in June after a leaked video showed him admitting to his Los Angeles Lakers teammate D'Angelo Russell that he had cheated on her. It was later revealed that Young had impregnated his ex-girlfriend Keonna Green.

"I just kind of felt like, on top of me needing the personal time, then feeling, 'Okay, I'm single now. I want to have sexy songs. I want to say stuff about being single'," the Fancy singer said.

"I obviously didn't write that on my [original] album because when I wrote it I was about to get married ... I don't want to go and promote my album and get asked about my relationship that has just crumbled."

Azalea - real name Amethyst Amelia Kelly - said horseback riding has helped her cope with her relationship woes.

"It's definitely helped me calm down," she said. "I'm not in control! They weigh a tonne! I think it's good, it's humbling, very humbling ... I think horses definitely have helped me a lot with that."

The singer has been romantically linked to rapper French Montana, but denies claims they are dating.

Azalea's new album Digital Distortion comes out in January 2017.