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Both critics and fans have drawn out comparisons between the subject of the episode and Cyrus's own music career. It begs the question of whether Cyrus was cast for this particular reason. It is also interesting to consider whether Cyrus was aware of that and chose to be the part as a move to embrace her past self (her own 'transformation') and struggle within the music industry and her struggle to find her own place and identity within that industry.

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The episode set out to "target is the music industry. Ashley O does not exist; she is an artificial personality, created not by Ashley herself but by her aunt. Her songs don’t communicate what Ashley feels inside, rather what extensive market research has proven sells. The conflict between the artistic integrity of the artist and the financial interest of their producers might as well by now be regarded as one of storytelling’s most archetypal relationships, one that Brooker chose to represent literally by having Ashley’s aunt induce her into a coma, extracting songs from her head without resistance, suiting them to her own needs."

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"Miley Cyrus herself went through a similar development, but to what extent she has become the master of her own destiny or has remained caught up in the economic machinery remains uncertain. So long as there are others involved in the artistic process, acting on their own best interests, we can never know for sure."

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The fifth season of the critically acclaimed dystopian sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror finally arrived on Netflix last Thursday, but fans aren't that happy with it, and for good reason. Historically, production on the show has always been sporadic and inconsistent, as deliberately enigmatic and existentially unreliable as the nightmarish societies reflected in its stories. Only last December, Netflix hoped to satiate hungry viewers with the innovative interactive feature "Bandersnatch," but unfortunately this unorthodox if not unengaging piece of entertainment proved little more than a sub-par appetizer, one that made fans increasingly impatient for the main course.

The next meal they were waiting for turned out to be a meager one. Technically, the number of episodes per season is not set in stone until the air date, but ever since the aforementioned streaming giant took over production in 2016, that number appeared to be fixed at six. Against all expectations, the fifth season only contains half that number, reminding us of the days when writer Charlie Brooker's now world-dominating dark creation was but an obscure independent production, occupying an equally dark time slot for three episodes per season on Britain's Channel 4.
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And to top that off, two of the season's three episodes prove to be underwhelming and mediocre at best, introducing neither gripping narratives nor intriguing themes, and certainly not showing us anything we haven't already seen. If the season will be remembered for anything, it is its third and final episode, "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too," about a young pop star looking to take back control of her career, art and indeed her life, all of which are carefully groomed by her evil entrepreneurial aunt. Starring Miley Cyrus as the titular Ashley, known cringe-worthily to millions of teenage girls as 'Ashley O,' the episode is a sharp critique on the ethics of stardom, one that eerily mirrors the real child actress' escape from her confining role as Disney's child-friendly Hannah Montana and subsequent change into her very own music icon.

Despite being the undisputed best of what Brooker has to offer this time around, "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too," has, far from being praised for its originality, been lamented for its untapped potential. Fans point at its underdeveloped concepts such as cloning and artificial intelligence (both of which have been explored thoroughly in previous episodes, such as "Be Right Back," and "White Christmas"), and accuse its feel-good ending of being a symptom of the infamously bleak show losing its uncompromisingly sinister edge, despite the fact that there are several episodes, including "USS Callister" and "San Junipero," that also concluded with a positive note.

But the changes these complaints would propose, of disrupting the narrative and altering the tone, would evidently detract from what Brooker is trying to accomplish here, and what he has been trying to accomplish with the show since its earliest conception: to expose the lies and hypocrisies of society. In this case, his target is the music industry. Ashley O does not exist; she is an artificial personality, created not by Ashley herself but by her aunt. Her songs don't communicate what Ashley feels inside, rather what extensive market research has proven sells. The conflict between the artistic integrity of the artist and the financial interest of their producers might as well by now be regarded as one of storytelling's most archetypal relationships, one that Brooker chose to represent literally by having Ashley's aunt induce her into a coma, extracting songs from her head without resistance, suiting them to her own needs.

At the end of the episode, Ashley succeeds in exposing her aunt's crimes to the world. Master of her life and art at last, she ceases to produce pop music on a global scale in favor of small gigs where she performs alternative rock and punk music. Miley Cyrus herself went through a similar development, but to what extent she has become the master of her own destiny or has remained caught up in the economic machinery remains uncertain. So long as there are others involved in the artistic process, acting on their own best interests, we can never know for sure.

"Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too," may tell its story through a slightly different voice, but the story it imparts undoubtedly belongs in the cruel world of Black Mirror, and represents the best of Brooker's talent as a writer: a continuous desire to reinvent himself, and a consistent capacity to surprise his audience.

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Critics of Miley Cyrus' 'Black Mirror' Episode Can't See This Is Charlie Brooker at His Best

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The fifth season of the critically acclaimed dystopian sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror finally arrived on Netflix last Thursday, but fans aren't that happy with it, and for good reason. Historically, production on the show has always been sporadic and inconsistent, as deliberately enigmatic and existentially unreliable as the nightmarish societies reflected in its stories.

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The fifth season likely marks a return to straight episodic narratives, with Cyrus featured in what “Variety” called a “meta storyline” about a celebrity who undergoes a transformation to attract more fans.

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"The fifth season likely marks a return to straight episodic narratives, with Cyrus featured in what “Variety” called a “meta storyline” about a celebrity who undergoes a transformation to attract more fans."

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"Black Mirror" is coming back for its fifth season to once again show us why technology's progress means we can no longer have nice things.

The new season will tell three stories written by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones.

Featured performers include Anthony Mackie, Miley Cyrus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topher Grace, Damson Idris, Andrew Scott, Nicole Beharie, Pom Klementieff, Angourie Rice, Madison Davenport and Ludi Lin.

The last "Black Mirror" feature to appear on Netflix was the interactive epic "Bandersnatch," which let viewers determine the fate of characters throughout the course of the story.

It was an experiment that could cost Netflix, thanks to a lawsuit from Chooseco, the company behind the "Choose your own adventure" series of books that inspired Black Mirror's experiment in storytelling.

The fifth season likely marks a return to straight episodic narratives, with Cyrus featured in what "Variety" called a "meta storyline" about a celebrity who undergoes a transformation to attract more fans.

The new episodes will drop on Netflix June 5.

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New 'Black Mirror' trailer features Miley Cyrus, Anthony Mackie... and more dystopia

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"Black Mirror" is coming back for its fifth season to once again show us why technology's progress means we can no longer have nice things. The new season will tell three stories written by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. Featured performers include Anthony Mackie, Miley Cyrus,...

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Her return to the screen (Black Mirror) 

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Her return to the screen (Black Mirror) 

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Cyrus even made a return to the screen in a 2019 episode of Black Mirror. She played the character of 'Ashley O' in a dystopian world.

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"But I love that that was a part of me and that that is me and I think that I have allowed that childhood self to shine through a little more because I am not trying to run away from it and I'm down to embrace it" ... "I think everyone should embrace who they used to be because it's made us who we are now,"

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"there was something of - when I stopped doing Hannah Montana - of saying "I am no that... I want you to see who I really am!"

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"the twerking Robin Thicke VMA's led me to the activist that I am now. I realised, if that many people were going to talk about something that I did, or something that I do then I should make it a good thing. I should make it something that can change people's lives rather than be a controversial conversation that does nothing but become a fun Halloween costume."

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Miley Cyrus Busks in NYC Subway in Disguise

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"Miley Cyrus sings "The Climb" for the first time in 6 years and fans freak out." 

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"Miley Cyrus sings "The Climb" for the first time in 6 years and fans freak out." 

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It's been years since Miley Cyrus performed "The Climb," the song made famous by 2009's Hannah Montana: The Movie, but she brought it back for an intimate Instagram Live video stream for the fans.

Cyrus was in the mood to sing, as she noted that her 2013 hit "Wrecking Ball" came in at the top of the charts four years ago on Thursday, the date of the video stream. The singer, who released her new album Younger Now on Friday, also sang "I Would Die For You" and "Wrecking Ball" without accompaniment.

"Had the best listening party I could everrrrr ask for," Cryus wrote on Instagram. "Thank you for sharing a very special night with me! Can't wait to see y'all @ my album release tomorrow in Nashville! Looooove you w all my [heart]!"

Cyrus performed "The Climb" on stage at CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute in 2011. Watch her perform it again in the second video of her Instagram post below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZngvnYBzW3/?hl=en&taken-by=mileycyrus
Many fans tuning in were overwhelmed by the surprise throwback. See some of the responses below.

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Miley Cyrus sings 'The Climb' for first time in 6 years - and fans freak out

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It's been years since Miley Cyrus performed "The Climb," the song made famous by 2009's Hannah Montana: The Movie, but she brought it back for an intimate Instagram Live video stream for the fans.

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As for the new, more subtle musical style seen on her latest work, "Younger Now," Cyrus told CBS the reason for the album and song title is due, in part, to an awakening in the last few years. "I'm in a really different place," she said. "But I feel like all the people that I've ever been are just sitting right here in, you know, inside. And I feel those ways, too."

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"Cyrus has been fairly consistent with her releases over the years. After 2017’s Younger Now, in which she reverted back to her country roots (and a more wholesome image), the singer revealed that she was hard at work on her next album, which she teased would be “genreless"

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Singer Miley Cyrus has been teasing her upcoming music for a long time. However, it's now been many months since a planned release, and some of her Smilers aren't pleased. Did the former Disney Channel star turn the tables and say something out of line? Here's what we know.

Miley Cyrus' planned 2019 album

Cyrus has been fairly consistent with her releases over the years. After 2017's Younger Now, in which she reverted back to her country roots (and a more wholesome image), the singer revealed that she was hard at work on her next album, which she teased would be " genre-less."

The first of three EPs, She Is Coming, was released on May 30, 2019. The lead single, "Mother's Daughter," came shortly thereafter. A new era of Cyrus' music was underway as she performed at music festivals and. She then released an additional single, "Slide Away" following her split from Liam Hemsworth.

Here's why 'She Is Miley Cyrus' was held up

The turning point that came when Cyrus and Hemsworth called it quits in mid-2019 led to a lot of changes for the artist and her pending releases. She didn't speak much on the pending EPs She Is Here and She Is Everything. After "Don't Call Me Angel" from the Charlie's Angels soundtrack came out, her releases halted.

Of course, there was another reason for that. In Oct. 2019, Cyrus had her tonsils removed. If that's wasn't enough, this was shortly thereafter followed by a scheduled surgery on her vocal cords. The artist was put on strict vocal rest for weeks.

Cyrus began 2020 by teasing a 'new era'

By the end of 2019, Cyrus appeared to have made a full recovery. She was heard singing in clips posted on Instagram, and she teased photos of her with producers and other big names, indicating that she was back in the studio.

Cyrus sent the message home with her New Year's posts in Jan. 2020. In addition to images where she wore a shirt that pointed to her She Is Here release (captioned "New Year. New era."), she shared the above photos, which explicitly say that new music is on the way.

She (may have) changed her Instagram bio

Miley Cyrus performs onstage during the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 21, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

We're living in a day and age where people expect near-immediate results. So now that the first two months of 2020 are essentially gone, Smilers are getting antsy. And apparently, Cyrus noticed.

A screenshot, in which Cyrus appears to have changed her Instagram bio to read "Stop rushing the f*cking music," was shared by a Twitter fan account, @CyrusReports. They wrote, "LMAO @mileycyrus [you] should be happy that some fans are still asking about your new music! Because for many people your career is over."

Why Smilers aren't happy

Many who commented on the screenshot asked if it was fake. It certainly could be, though other argued it as real and she deleted it almost immediately. It does echo comments she's made in the past, as seen above.

Regardless, fans aren't happy either way. One Twitter user, @ramona_e95, wrote in response, "I asked [about new music] under the new post. And after this answer, I think I don't care any longer for her and her new music. I don't buy tickets for a festival just for a few rock covers." It sounds like Cyrus might need to put in work to win back some of her fans.

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Did Miley Cyrus Insult Her Fans Who Have Been Asking For New Music in 2020?

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Singer Miley Cyrus has been teasing her upcoming music for a long time. However, it's now been many months since a planned release, and some of her Smilers aren't pleased. Did the former Disney Channel star turn the tables and say something out of line? Here's what we know.

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Her New Year Post read... "New Hair. New Year. New Music"

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918.4k Likes, 4,582 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram: "New hair. New year. NEW MUSIC. 💀"

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2020 - "Cyrus began 2020 by teasing a ‘new era’"

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The idea of Cyrus being a 'Wild Child' feeds back into her star image constantly. Fans, critics, and those within the music industry are constantly interested and excited about 'what Miley will do next?' which is reflected in both her music, her performances and her online, social presence.

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Miley has a 'reputation' amongst celebrities and fans that can be seen as good or bad... but it's exciting - you don't know what se'll do next BUT she'll do whatever she wants! This definitely feeds into her star image (as a whole)

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"On BBC iPlayer's "Star Reactions" Charli XCX responded to this event with "she's got like a glint her in her eye where you're like 'I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be fun'" ... to which Nick Grimshaw (The Host) responded, "Yeah, it's not unnerving, scary. It's like unnerving, good."... to which Charli replied "it's like, I don't know where we are going, but I'm coming!".

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Charli XCX reacts to her greatest performances, music videos, outfits & funniest moments.

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Miley Cyrus X Charli XCX as Radio1 Big Weekend. 

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Miley Cyrus X Charli XCX as Radio1 Big Weekend. 

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Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop (feat. Charli XCX) (Radio 1's Big Weekend 2019)

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"sings Miley Cyrus on the excellent title track of her sixth studio album, surely referring to a career of reinventions from Disney child star to Wrecking Ball-era sledgehammer licking controversies to Dead Petz' psychedelic weirdness."

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'No one stays the same," sings Miley Cyrus on the excellent title track of her sixth studio album, surely referring to a career of reinventions from Disney child star to Wrecking Ball-era sledgehammer-licking controversies to Dead Petz's psychedelic weirdness. On Younger Now, she has taken control of the songwriting and production and emerges as a conservative, big-lunged, country-tinged pop star with songs about breaking free.

In Malibu, she mourns the loss of an ordinary childhood ("I never came to the beach or stood by the ocean"), while Miss You So Much seems to take a sly pop at the music industry ("You can drink my blood"). Elsewhere, there are teary anthems; Rainbowland pairs her with her godmother, Dolly Parton, for a rumbustious Southern stomp; while the confessional I Would Die for You would fit on to Beth Orton's Central Reservation. It's all really rather lovely, although too soon to know whether this, finally, is the "real" Miley standing up.
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Miley Cyrus: Younger Now review - big-hearted country-pop from Miley v4.0

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'No one stays the same," sings Miley Cyrus on the excellent title track of her sixth studio album, surely referring to a career of reinventions from Disney child star to Wrecking Ball-era sledgehammer-licking controversies to Dead Petz's psychedelic weirdness.

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"Bangerz brought with it serious charges of cultural appropriation; as an R&B-free zone, Younger Now confirms Cyrus really was just a cultural tourist."

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/01/miley-cyrus-younger-now-review

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"You’re tempted to conclude that the former self Cyrus is unafraid to acknowledge is Hannah Montana, rather than the grill-sporting, Molly-mentioning hellraiser of We Can’t Stop (Molly being E)" .

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"So the mothers of small girls can rejoice: Younger Now is a twerk-free zone."

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"This is Cyrus au naturel"

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"Younger Now is the sound of Cyrus, or her record company, panicking and hitting “reset”.

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"So like King... I have a dream that the predominantly white music world will stop reducing black music to grills and bitches and twerking"

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"a young wealthy woman from the south doing a garish imitation of black music and reducing black dancers to background fodder and black women to exaggerated sex objects." (Hadley Freeman)

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Cyrus was seen 'Twerking' in a 2013 video that went viral.

"a subversion of the history, complexity and meaningfulness of the black social dance and the role black females play/played in it began... The initial surge of the event—registering as the most significant trend ever on twerking in Google searches to date—masked the black communal roots of the social dance from New Orleans."

Reading: Gaunt, K.D., 2015. YouTube, twerking & you: Context collapse and the handheld co‐presence of black girls and Miley Cyrus. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 27(3), pp.244-273.

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"Miley Cyrus's twerking routine was cultural appropriation at its worst" Hadley Freeman

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"Miley Cyrus's twerking routine was cultural appropriation at its worst" Hadley Freeman

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Exactly half a century ago on Wednesday, Martin Luther King described his dream, a dream in which "one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers".

Exactly half a century ago on Wednesday, Martin Luther King described his dream, a dream in which "one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers".

So it seems deliciously apt in terms of reflecting how race relations have progressed in the US since Dr King's era that, just a whisker short of the anniversary of his speech, the world bore witness to one of the more intriguing examples of cultural appropriation. Sadly, King omitted to say whether he also dreamed of "little white girls from Tennessee mimicking anilingus on little black girls wearing giant animals on their backs", so it's impossible to know how he would have reacted to Miley Cyrus' performance at the VMAs on Sunday. But it seems likely that not even he could have foreseen how the American celebrity world would manage to twist his image into something quite so, if not actually racist, then certainly race-ish.

As I watched Cyrus's performance on Monday morning on my laptop, the first floats in the Notting Hill carnival parade went by outside my window. I have lived in the middle of the carnival route for 12 years now and going by my wholly unscientific observation, the carnival is one of the lovelier forms of cultural cross-pollination. Yes, there are lots of white people trying to dance, not too appallingly, to reggae soundsystems, as well as an increasing overflow of aggressively drunk white men who seem to have got lost on their way to Reading festival. But in the main, the carnival is one of the closest adherents to King's dream that I have encountered in my four decades living in four different cities, with its happy celebration of African-Caribbean traditions, which most of the white attendees excitedly cheer along.

Which brings us back to Miley Cyrus' VMA performance - a perfect illustration of just how the celebrity world appropriates black culture and female liberation. The song Cyrus sang, We Can't Stop, was written by Timothy and Theron Thomas and given to Cyrus when she told them, presumably without a wince: "I want something that feels black." Instead of giving her something by, I don't know, John Coltrane, the Thomas brothers gave her a song originally written for Rihanna which, to be fair, was almost certainly the image of blackness Cyrus had in mind as I don't think Coltrane did much twerking.

Cyrus is hardly the first female celebrity to try to prove her maturity through sexuality and, to be fair to her, she probably felt that she needed more than a pixie haircut to compensate for the Billy Ray Cyrus factor. Whether that had to involve sticking her tongue out repeatedly as if Gene Simmons never happened is something only cultural historians will be able to chart later. Plenty of male singers grab their crotches while performing, but it seems to be only female singers these days who feel the need to strip down to their underwear and simulate sex acts on stage. As nice as it would be to imagine a world in which young women weren't taught to equate hypersexuality with maturity and independence, that remains as unrealised a dream as much of King's speech.

Cyrus, though, twerked the formula as well as her body by adding in a racial element while she copied the dance moves of strippers and bellowed her love of drugs. (Billy Ray's heart must be pretty achy breaky these days.) On stage as well as in her video she used the tedious trope of having black women as her backing singers, there only to be fondled by her and to admire her wiggling derriere. Cyrus is explicitly imitating crunk music videos and the sort of hip-hop she finds so edgy - she has said, bless her, that she feels she is Lil' Kim inside and she loves "hood music" - and the effect was not of a homage but of a minstrel show, with a young wealthy woman from the south doing a garish imitation of black music and reducing black dancers to background fodder and black women to exaggerated sex objects.

Cyrus's approach to cultural appropriation is as sophisticated as Robin Thicke's view of female sexuality, making it delightfully apt that they, inevitably, ended up duetting together. In a brilliant blogpost on the song, writer Wallace Wylie points out that while Thicke's song, Blurred Lines, doesn't endorse rape, as some have alleged, it does present the most tediously reductive view of sex and women with the idea of "a good girl" just needing to be liberated by alcohol and a penis to become "an animal". It's an idea that was satirised six years ago in SuperBad by teenagers and yet remains as credible in pop songs today as it does in porn. It's one of life's ironies that pop music is supposedly a progressive and young person's art form, yet the messages it sends are generally as retrograde as the gruntings of an embarrassing middle-aged uncle at Christmas dinner. It's downright bizarre that a carnival that celebrates its 50th anniversary next year should look so much more modern than anything in the pop world.

So like King, I too have a dream: I have a dream that female celebrities will one day feel that they don't need to imitate porn actors on magazine covers and in their stage acts. I have a dream that the predominantly white music world will stop reducing black music to grills and bitches and twerking. And I have a dream that stupid songs about seducing "good girls" will be laughed at instead of sent to No 1. And most of all, I dream that I never, ever have to see Miley Cyrus gyrating against Robin Thicke's crotch again. We won't be free then, but it will be a start.
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Miley Cyrus's twerking routine was cultural appropriation at its worst | Hadley Freeman

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Exactly half a century ago on Wednesday, Martin Luther King described his dream, a dream in which "one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers".

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"the adoption of elements of one culture by members of another culture... this can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority culture"

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Cyrus has recently been seen to re-post scenes of 'Hannah Montana' in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Embracing her past tv career as a comedic buffer & make her fans laugh in a time of crisis.

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Ketchup may be a great hand moisturizer BUT NOT sanitizer! Happy Hannah-Versary! #14YearsOfHannahMontana ❤️

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486.8k Likes, 5,199 Comments - Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Instagram: "Ketchup may be a great hand moisturizer BUT NOT sanitizer! Happy Hannah-Versary!..."

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"Cyrus only wants to grant others the same clemency."

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"Cyrus only wants to grant others the same clemency."

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Throughout her 'PAPER' articles she talks openly about her own sexual discovery.

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"She says she has come to consider her own sexuality -- even her own gender identification -- fluid. "I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn't involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that's legal, I'm down with. Yo, I'm down with any adult -- anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me," she says. "I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl."

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Cyrus almost immediately starts talking about how she decided to become a vegan last year. She was touring the world in support of Bangerz, her platinum 2013 album, when her beloved dog, Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai, was mauled by a coyote. She quit consuming animal products almost immediately. She hasn't spoken much about the switch, but she says that she's finally ready to be held accountable -- to be an example.

It turns out Cyrus is deeply interested in accountability. At 22, she's perhaps her generation's most unlikely social activist, and also one of its most powerful. Now she's harnessing that influence to counter what she sees as an unacceptable reality: young people being persecuted and cast out for their sexuality. Inspired in part by the death of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender girl who committed suicide in late 2014 after being forced to undergo so-called "conversion therapy," Cyrus recently announced the Happy Hippie Foundation, a philanthropic venture designed to raise funds and awareness for homeless and LGBT youth. "We can't keep noticing these kids too late," she says.

Cyrus grew up outside of Nashville with her brothers and sisters on a 500-acre farm where, she says, she began a formative practice of getting up early in the morning and riding a dirt bike around in the nude. In the year of her birth, her father, Billy Ray, became briefly, colossally famous for wearing a mullet and performing a country song about getting dumped. Dolly Parton is her godmother. ("She taught me how to treat people well," Cyrus says.) In 2006, Cyrus was cast in the title role of the Disney Channel's hugely popular Hannah Montana, the gig that would handily propel her to mega-stardom.

She says she has come to consider her own sexuality -- even her own gender identification -- fluid. "I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn't involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that's legal, I'm down with. Yo, I'm down with any adult -- anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me," she says. "I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl." She says she's had romantic entanglements with women that were just as serious as the ones (Liam Hemsworth, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nick Jonas) that ended up in Us Weekly. "I've had that," she admits. "But people never really looked at it, and I never brought it into the spotlight."

What is less discussed is that Cyrus is a very good pop singer and occasionally a great one. She has a porous, burly voice that recalls Rumours-era Stevie Nicks -- the kind that's good for communicating particular strains of duress (specifically: what it feels like to love too hard). But what she has managed to do better than nearly anyone -- save, perhaps, Andrew W.K. -- is legitimize partying as an ideological choice. In Cyrus' hands, "La da dee da dee / We like to par-tee" becomes a resonant generational credo. That she has been persecuted for these things -- or at least openly mocked -- makes her commitment to love-yourself-no-matter-what activism even more poignant.

Go here to see Miley's Paper cover and to learn more about our Use Your Voice issue, on stands June 22nd. Find out more about the Happy Hippie Foundation here

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Cyrus almost immediately starts talking about how she decided to become a vegan last year. She was touring the world in support of Bangerz, her platinum 2013 album, when her beloved dog, Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai, was mauled by a coyote. She quit consuming animal products almost immediately.

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Nicki Minaj versus Miley Cyrus VMA Feud (2015)

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Nicki Minaj versus Miley Cyrus VMA Feud (2015)

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At the 2015 VMA awards, which Miley Cyrus presented. Nicki Minaj was awarded with the Best Hip-Hop Video VMA. In her speech she took a shot at Cyrus. The on-stage dispute made global news highlights and to this day is still referred to as an uncomfortable celebrity moment.

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UNCENSORED: Miley Cyrus Reacts to Nicki Minaj Calling Her Out at the 2015 VMAs | MTV News

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Interplay of Elements -  Contributing to her Star Image & Identity.

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Interplay of Elements -  Contributing to her Star Image & Identity.

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You can start to see how all these elements of Cyrus's life start to tie together and play into her star image. They recur throughout various forms of media and an interplay between all these different elements starts to emerge.

It also highlights how, as Cyrus as matured, she has tried to break away broken away from the 'Disney' images by speaking out about social image & relating it back to her new image and identity.

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"she says that she's finally ready to be held accountable -- to be an example."

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"she says that she's finally ready to be held accountable -- to be an example."

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"Cyrus almost immediately starts talking about how she decided to become a vegan last year. She was touring the world in support of Bangerz, her platinum 2013 album, when her beloved dog, Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai, was mauled by a coyote. She quit consuming animal products almost immediately. She hasn't spoken much about the switch, but she says that she's finally ready to be held accountable -- to be an example."

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At only 22, Cyrus was using her voice and platform to speak out against political and social injustice.

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"I can't drive by in my fucking Porsche and not fucking do something," she says. "I see it all day: people in their Bentleys and their Rolls and their Ubers, driving past these vets who have fought for our country, or these young women who have been raped." She pauses. "I was doing a show two nights ago, and I was wearing butterfly nipple pasties and butterfly wings. I'm standing there with my tits out, dressed like a butterfly. How the fuck is that fair? How am I so lucky?"

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“I’m singing about empowerment while I’ve got my tits out, and it’s like, 'What the f---?' But that is empowering because the other night I was playing with Joan Jett in Dallas and I was in nipple pasties, like, 'F---, maybe I shouldn't go out. These people in Dallas are going to be really offended.' And then I thought, 'No, there are people that need to see it.' They need to see a woman standing next to another chick playing guitar, f---in’ singing a rock ’n’ roll song with their tits out.”

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Cyrus almost immediately starts talking about how she decided to become a vegan last year. She was touring the world in support of Bangerz, her platinum 2013 album, when her beloved dog, Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai, was mauled by a coyote. She quit consuming animal products almost immediately. She hasn't spoken much about the switch, but she says that she's finally ready to be held accountable -- to be an example.

It turns out Cyrus is deeply interested in accountability. At 22, she's perhaps her generation's most unlikely social activist, and also one of its most powerful. Now she's harnessing that influence to counter what she sees as an unacceptable reality: young people being persecuted and cast out for their sexuality. Inspired in part by the death of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender girl who committed suicide in late 2014 after being forced to undergo so-called "conversion therapy," Cyrus recently announced the Happy Hippie Foundation, a philanthropic venture designed to raise funds and awareness for homeless and LGBT youth. "We can't keep noticing these kids too late," she says.

Cyrus grew up outside of Nashville with her brothers and sisters on a 500-acre farm where, she says, she began a formative practice of getting up early in the morning and riding a dirt bike around in the nude. In the year of her birth, her father, Billy Ray, became briefly, colossally famous for wearing a mullet and performing a country song about getting dumped. Dolly Parton is her godmother. ("She taught me how to treat people well," Cyrus says.) In 2006, Cyrus was cast in the title role of the Disney Channel's hugely popular Hannah Montana, the gig that would handily propel her to mega-stardom.

She says she has come to consider her own sexuality -- even her own gender identification -- fluid. "I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn't involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that's legal, I'm down with. Yo, I'm down with any adult -- anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me," she says. "I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl." She says she's had romantic entanglements with women that were just as serious as the ones (Liam Hemsworth, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nick Jonas) that ended up in Us Weekly. "I've had that," she admits. "But people never really looked at it, and I never brought it into the spotlight."

What is less discussed is that Cyrus is a very good pop singer and occasionally a great one. She has a porous, burly voice that recalls Rumours-era Stevie Nicks -- the kind that's good for communicating particular strains of duress (specifically: what it feels like to love too hard). But what she has managed to do better than nearly anyone -- save, perhaps, Andrew W.K. -- is legitimize partying as an ideological choice. In Cyrus' hands, "La da dee da dee / We like to par-tee" becomes a resonant generational credo. That she has been persecuted for these things -- or at least openly mocked -- makes her commitment to love-yourself-no-matter-what activism even more poignant.

Go here to see Miley's Paper cover and to learn more about our Use Your Voice issue, on stands June 22nd. Find out more about the Happy Hippie Foundation here

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Cyrus almost immediately starts talking about how she decided to become a vegan last year. She was touring the world in support of Bangerz, her platinum 2013 album, when her beloved dog, Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai, was mauled by a coyote. She quit consuming animal products almost immediately.

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"During Miley Cyrus's Bangerz and Dead Petz days, the pop star was known for her scandalous outfits and wild performances, but she only made these power moves because it was part of who she is and embodied her self-expression."

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On Tuesday, when Allure released its August 2017 cover story featuring Emily Ratajkowski, the model/actress addressed the criticism female celebrities receive when they wear revealing clothing while also preaching sexual empowerment.

"To me, any expression that is empowered and is your own as a woman is feminist," she said. "... If a woman decides to dress sexy, it doesn't mean she's not a feminist. [We] should be doing things for ourselves. If that is the woman's choice, and it makes her feel good, then that's great."

She continued: "It really bothers me that people are so offended by breasts. That's when I realized how f---ed our culture is. When we see breasts, we don't think of beauty and femininity. We think of vulgar, oversexualized images."

Like Ratajkowski, many other stars have made bold comments about nudity, sexuality, empowerment and feminism, so Billboard pulled together some of their strongest statements. Take a look at what they had to say below:
Emma Watson
Despite Emma Watson's gender-equality HeForShe campaign and ambassador title at the United Nations, her feminism was attacked following the release of her March 2017 Vanity Fair cover story. In the regal spread, one photo featured the Beauty and the Beast star partially exposing her breasts, which caused a social media debate questioning her feminism.

In an interview with BBC, Watson responded: "It just always reveals to me how many misconceptions and what a misunderstanding there is about what feminism is. Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality. I really don't know what my tits have to do with it."
Paris Jackson
Michael Jackson 's daughter and model Paris Jackson bares skin for shoots often because it's her job, and she's not too shy to say why she thinks it's important. On Instagram in May, she wrote an extensive message to her followers explaining just what her stance on nudity is and why it's feminist to dress however one chooses, whether that means keeping their blouse buttoned up or showing some skin.

"It's actually a beautiful thing and you don't have to make it sexual the way many Hollywood stars (and the media) do," Jackson wrote. "Not only is your body a temple and should be worshipped as so, but also part of feminism is being able to express yourself in your own way, whether it's being conservative and wearing lots of clothes or showing yourself."
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is the selfie queen and known for her revealing pics on Instagram and in major magazine spreads. With one of the largest social media followings, Kim K is well aware of the power she has and utilizes that power to share what she believes is empowering.

If her photos weren't enough, to make her views more clear, in 2016 Kardashian wrote an honest letter to her fans on her website about what makes her feel good about herself. "I am empowered by my body," she wrote. "I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin. I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me. And I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world."
Miley Cyrus
During Miley Cyrus' Bangerz and Dead Petz days, the pop star was known for her scandalous outfits and wild performances, but she only made these power moves because it was part of who she is and embodied her self-expression.

To accompany her nude 2015 Paper magazine shoot, the singer said, "I'm singing about empowerment while I've got my tits out, and it's like, 'What the f---?' But that is empowering because the other night I was playing with Joan Jett in Dallas and I was in nipple pasties, like, 'F---, maybe I shouldn't go out. These people in Dallas are going to be really offended.' And then I thought, 'No, there are people that need to see it.' They need to see a woman standing next to another chick playing guitar, f---in' singing a rock 'n' roll song with their tits out."
Amber Rose
Amber Rose is one of the most unapologetic celebrity activists, and she devotes her platform to raising awareness to a number of sex-positive causes. She refuses to be silent and has long equated her feminist views with sexuality, making dynamic statements by just posting a picture because she knows how influential it is.

Imma post this one more time for the haters -------- pic.twitter.com/9U2nE8z4Yh

- Amber Rose (@DaRealAmberRose) June 11, 2017

https://t.co/Z75kco0B11 #AmberRoseSlutWalk #feminism #pussypower #lgbtq --?‍-- pic.twitter.com/aHOHM3LLKq

- Amber Rose (@DaRealAmberRose) June 13, 2017

Beyoncé
?At the 2014 MTV Music Video Awards, Beyoncé appeared in front of an emboldened sign that read "feminist" as she gave a "***flawless" performance. As Queen Bey danced suggestively in front of the sign, she proved in the most iconic way possible that feminism and sexuality do not have to be mutually exclusive concepts, but that one could be in control of her agency, and empowerment and sexuality can be one in the same.

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Miley Cyrus, Emily Ratajkowski & More Feminist Stars Preaching Empowerment Through Sexuality | Billboard

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On Tuesday, when Allure released its August 2017 cover story featuring Emily Ratajkowski, the model/actress addressed the criticism female celebrities receive when they wear revealing clothing while also preaching sexual empowerment. â€œTo me, any expression that is empowered and is your own as a woman is feminist," she said.

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Miley has even won prestigious vegan awards for her vegan activism.

"From encouraging fans to go vegan to reminding everyone to stay away from SeaWorld, today’s hottest stars are empowering young people to make kind choices."
(PETA Senior Director, Marta Holmberg).

Cyrus fell under the category of, "celebrities who are using their star power to help animals." alongside Blink 182 and her sister Noah Cyrus.

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Vegan News, Plant Based Living, Food, Health & more

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Musician Miley Cyrus has won a peta2 award for her vegan advocacy.

The award - given by the youth division of animal rights charity PETA - was announced as part of the organization's 12th Annual Libby Awards. ('Libby' is short for 'liberation' - as in animal liberation).

According to a peta2 spokesperson: "Miley Cyrus nabbed the title of Best Voice for Animals for the second year in a row, thanks to her tireless promotion of vegan eating and animal issues on social media."

Winners

Other honorees included blink-182, the two-time winner of Most Animal-Friendly Band, thanks in part to drummer Travis Barker's peta2 ad, Miley's sister Noah Cyrus, who snagged the Best peta2 Ad award for her anti-SeaWorld campaign, and Shameless actor Emma Kenney, who earned the Brightest Star for Animals award after her anti-breeder rant was a huge hit.

Also awarded were Kat Von D Beauty (Best Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Company) and goodDYEyoung (Best Vegan Hair Dye), created by Paramore's Hayley Williams.

'Empowering'

peta2 Senior Director, Marta Holmberg, said: "From encouraging fans to go vegan to reminding everyone to stay away from SeaWorld, today's hottest stars are empowering young people to make kind choices.

"peta2 is recognizing Miley and Noah Cyrus, blink-182, Emma Kenney, and other celebrities who are using their star power to help animals."
The full list of winners is available here

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Vegan Singer Miley Cyrus Wins Award In Honor Of Her Work For Animals

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Musician Miley Cyrus has won a peta2 award for her vegan advocacy. The award - given by the youth division of animal rights charity PETA - was announced as part of the organization's 12th Annual Libby Awards. ('Libby' is short for 'liberation' - as in animal liberation).

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Cyrus cleverly intertwines her multiple passions and social interests  in order to advocate for change and highlight major social issues.

"Nothing Breaks Like a Broken Heart", a song that she released in collaboration with Mark Ronson (2018) made overt references to current political and social injustice, which was only strengthened by the music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9hcJgtnm6Q).

Furthermore, Cyrus doesn't shy away from er political and social views. At Christmas time she appeared on the "Jimmy Fallon Live" show, on which she sang the festive classic "Santa Baby". However, she made a comment about the lyrics - “I think I might need to change a few of these lyrics” ... “‘Slip a sable under the tree for me’ – do you even know what that is?” . Fallon responded with, “A sword?” to which Cyrus responded, “No, Jimmy, it’s fur and I’m vegan.”

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"Feels like I just woke up
Like all this time I've been asleep
Even though it's not who I am
I'm not afraid of who I used to be"

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"In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Miley acknowledged: “I know what I’m doing. I know I’m shocking you.“There’s something empowering about what I’m doing right now. Especially having “short hair don’t care.” I think it’s empowering for girls. Because there’s not one thing that defines what beauty is.”

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"But instead of questions being raised about her morality, we’re now seeing support from the masses, describing Mother’s Daughter and it’s video as “powerful statements” and “fierce”, despite it being in the same NSFW tone as the singer’s previous dip into being overtly feminist."

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"She brought twerking to the mainstream, she unapologetically cut her hair and she wore barely-there clothes - but was she really going insane, or was she just doing things other daren’t, and saying a massive f*ck you to the standards society holds against women?"

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In true Miley fashion, the video shows her sporting a red latex catsuit ( Britney, anyone?) complete with vagina teeth as she repeatedly sings the confrontational lines "Back up, back up, back up boy," and "Oh my god, she got the power" with the main message of the song being "Don't f*ck with my freedom" - a rapid shift from the days of the Hoedown Throwdown.

She's also dived back into acting with her appearance in the latest season of Charlie Brooker's hit series, Black Mirror, as Ashley O, a pastel-haired popstar (turned-gay-icon) who tries to break free from her "manufactured" pop persona so she can create "real music" - an ironic storyline which scarily mirrors the reality of the industry and Miley's transition from Hannah Montana to becoming Miley.

But instead of questions being raised about her morality, we're now seeing support from the masses, describing Mother's Daughter and it's video as "powerful statements" and "fierce", despite it being in the same NSFW tone as the singer's previous dip into being overtly feminist.

In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Miley acknowledged: "I know what I'm doing. I know I'm shocking you.

"There's something empowering about what I'm doing right now. Especially having " short hair don't care." I think it's empowering for girls. Because there's not one thing that defines what beauty is."

Admittedly, writing this is proof of the cultural shifts we're facing right now. You only have to type in my handle on Twitter followed by the words "Miley Cyrus" to see an exact tweet I posted the day of the 2013 VMA's performance, when I was just 15, that reads: "Miley at the VMAs is so uncomfortable to watch". And in reality, it was.

It was a time where we weren't exposed to women who weren't known as activists making social change in their field, and if they were openly considered an activist it was frowned upon, but really people were never mad about what Miley was doing - they were just shocked. Shocked that a stereotypically attractive, female A-lister, was being all feminist and sh*t, when that was supposed to be reserved for women with protest-armpit hair.

Fast forward seven years and a lot more has changed than we realise. Feminist slogans stamp high street t-shirts and celebrities are standing up for causes that were previously frown-worthy.

Arguably, the #MeToo movement has happened since then, and while the stories of these women emerged for all of the wrong reasons, it has a large part to play in why people have started paying more attention to everything that's still, in 2019, wrong with women's freedom, and women everywhere have started owning their femininity.

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Miley Cyrus was a badass feminist in her Bangerz era - so why did we bash her for it then but celebrate it now?

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Was Miley Cyrus really going insane when critics analysed her Bangerz 'phase', or was she just doing things other daren't, making a feminist stand to the standards society holds against women?

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"Mother’s Daughter has everything a feminist anthem needs. A bite-back chorus, and a music video packed with female-forward activists including prominent members of the LGBT community, who barely had a voice in 2013."

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With shifting views and perspectives that surround post-feminism, Cyrus has started to become a feminist icon. This shift in perspective can be seen when comparing reactions to her work back in 2013, and the work she has produced these last couple of years.

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In her article "“Taking time between g-string cadges to educate ourselves:Sinead O’Connor, Miley Cyrus, and celebrity feminism.” Anita Brady responds to Miley Cyrus's comments surrounding her "Wrecking Ball' music video. Cyrus describes the video to her dingle as a "modern version of Sinead O'Connor's 1990 video of "Nothing Compares 2 U." Lennox responded to this comment with a critique on female celebrities and made a remark about how she was "disturbed and dismayed by the recent spare of overtly sexualised performances and videos." Lennox is critical of the marketing strategies used to promote young female celebrities because, as we know, "sex sells".

Brady also goes on to examine the feud that emerged between Sinead O'Connor which started when O'Connor urged Cyrus to reconsider her "sexual image". The "feud" resulted in a heated debate covering topics surrounding sexual agency, celebrity feminisms and contemporary media culture.

Reading: Brady, A., 2016. Taking time between g-string changes to educate ourselves: Sinéad O’Connor, Miley Cyrus, and celebrity feminism. Feminist media studies, 16(3), pp.429-444.

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"The pop provocateur plays safe on her new album, abandoning R&B in favour of country-pop"

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ou almost feel sorry for pop divas. Their every move is sifted for significance by fans, haters and professional cultural scrutineers alike. Every gesture is loaded; every stylistic nuance is grist to some commentary, a process at whose sharp end Miley Cyrus finds herself, once again. Her latest album, Younger Now, finds the child star turned pop provocateur pivoting hard after two radically different long-form releases, 2013's Bangerz (hard-partying R&B) and 2015's Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (stoned pop, given away free).

You can hear Younger Now one of two ways. It is either a pleasant country-tinged outing that reflects, tunefully, on Cyrus's recent past, roping in her godmother, Dolly Parton, for a track called Rainbowland, in which they envision some sort of utopia that twangs (it is also the name of Cyrus's recording studio). This is Cyrus au naturel, daughter of another country star, Billy Ray Cyrus, gimmick-free, #unfiltered. Alternatively, you can see Younger Now as pure white flight, a retrenchment into heartland Americana after unapologetically channelling R&B and the impression of being bulletproof.

Younger Now is the sound of Cyrus, or her record company, panicking and hitting "reset"

So the mothers of small girls can rejoice: Younger Now is a twerk-free zone. Malibu is all California sunshine and lovehearts directed towards Cyrus's on-off-on fiance; in the video, Cyrus cavorts demurely. The album isn't entirely retrograde: a few tracks sound like it's 2017. Thinkin' is a throwback to pop R&B, while one of the album's best songs, Bad Mood, sulks seductively. Producer Oren Yoel, who plays all the instruments, came on board during the Bangerz era, so the about-face behind the desk is, perhaps, not quite so dizzying.

And yet Week Without You is another old-time charmer that opens a trio of straight-up love songs, Miss You So Much and I Would Die for You. Inspired closes the album with a ballad that frets for the planet. The video for the title track involves a puppet; Cyrus is styled like a 50s sweetheart of the rodeo. In the lyrics, Cyrus gets her excuses in swiftly: "No one stays the same," she sings as a dancer twirls pointedly on a pole. "Even though it's not who I am/I'm not afraid of who I used to be."

You're tempted to conclude that the former self Cyrus is unafraid to acknowledge is Hannah Montana, rather than the grill-sporting, Molly-mentioning hellraiser of We Can't Stop (Molly being E). Bangerz brought with it serious charges of cultural appropriation; as an R&B-free zone, Younger Now confirms Cyrus really was just a cultural tourist. It's a shame, because Cyrus did R&B well, lending her supple voice and a deranged sense of fun to an often po-faced sound; Mike Will's imprimatur on production lent the whole endeavour ballast.

Younger Now isn't a failure exactly - just the sound of Cyrus, or her record company, panicking and hitting "reset". And that cultural fear - that this theoretically Teflon-coated pop star would be in such haste to hand back her " hood pass " (well, her notional "hood pass") - is the saddest thing about a record in which a young woman finds herself in love again.

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Miley Cyrus: Younger Now review - goodbye girl in the hood

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The pop provocateur plays safe on her new album, abandoning R&B in favour of country-pop

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This particular juncture in Miley's career saw her become an integral part of the post-feminism movement. Her overt sexual expression was greeted with a mixed response.

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Bangerz features an array of well-know guest artist, like Britney Spears, French Montana, Future, Ludacris and Nelly.

This shows a community of artists in support of Miley's new sound.

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"Bro, she doesn’t need your permission."

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"Bro, she doesn’t need your permission."

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Cyrus will do whatever she wants. Both her fans, those within the music industry and star industry as well as fellow music artists know that with Miley you never know what you are going to get...

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"Miley finds power in her sexuality, even twisting it into a goofiness and gender-subverting “dick pic” that LOLs at penis envy and porn at the same damn time."

(Caitlin White for Consequence of Sound)

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I hear you. There have been problems with Miley Cyrus. Read Jody Rosen's ironclad takedown or the countless other essays by women of color to get a taste of how she's messed up, at her VMA performance and elsewhere. I read all of them, and I'm glad that conversation has been started, that those voices are being heard. But, just the same way that I love that one Chris Brown song, Surfer Blood soundtracked some of my happiest college moments, and Kanye is my actual favorite artist despite some problematic misogyny, I love Miley's new album, Bangerz. And I'm not alone.

I still really can't stand the way people keep pinning Miley's cribbing from a wide variety of other cultures and styles as somehow evil. And, it's not just hip-hop on this album, but country, EDM, vampy balladry, and more. This is basically what white girls in America do. Why? Because there is essentially no culture for white women in America beyond sex, daughter/wife roles, and beauty, and for some of us, that is not enough. Just because the culture of white, rich women in America is dominant in some ways doesn't make it any less devoid of deeper meanings, doesn't make it any less stifling, and doesn't mean we should help perpetuate that. We're told our culture is American Dolls - stories from the recent past of the daughters and wives of men doing important things. We're told our culture is glitter, or stickers, or chain letters. We're told our culture is to try to be skinny and pretty enough to avoid verbal torture and psychic terror in school and the larger realm of society. Any white girl worth her salt tries to look past Madonna and Britney - not shun them, just look past them - to a wider viewpoint.

So, Miley went looking for what's going on around her and she found hip-hop, because it's pretty unmissable these days. Surely Mike Will Made It's skill for shellacking rough edges into rumbling slowcore rap brilliance was more than a backseat force on the album. "We Can't Stop" was the first single for a reason, because it's a crawling tour de force - defiant pop, even in grammar, drug use, and BPM. But aside from Mike Will, aside from the lead single and some problematic appropriation, Miley's culled from many other movements and musics to create an album that reflects not just pop music, but her particular perspective on it.

She's looking beyond herself, and though her steps may be gawky or unwieldy, the strides she's taking still suggest a woman with fierce, interesting instincts. "4×4" is impertinently country, almost a nursery rhyme, needling genre-haters to the point of blood-letting. Big Sean ("Love Money Party"), French Montana ("FU"), and even Britney Spears herself ("SMS (Bangerz)") pop up almost as afterthoughts, while Future's appearance on "My Darlin'" proves his mettle once again on an interpolated version of "Stand By Me" that morphs into one of Bangerz' best tracks. This is an excellent representation of the way that pop is drifting into hip-hop, though; Seeing all these names come together in one album doesn't feel that surprising.

Miley is digging to define who she is, and like any 20-year-old woman, she's going to fuck up. Like any 20-year-old, she's also got the urge to pretend that none of this is affecting her and to refuse to apologize or even take a step back. But, making this the focus detracts from the album. Too many critics are caught up in the media instead of the music. Sure, she's tapping into hip-hop, but with Pharrell and Mike Will Made It, she's also just employing the best producers in the game right now. Don't be shocked that this album is mid-level pop, be surprised that even at 20, Miley can open her scope to encompass country, hip-hop, ballads, and even the electronic impulses of today's pop. Album opener "Adore You" breathes new life into the idea of a capital-B ballad, a left field move for 2013 that feels elegant in its own way. "Wrecking Ball" and "Drive" take machinery and turn them into heartbreak metaphors - and both are sinuous, intrepid tracks. "Maybe You're Right" takes these same fears and twists them until they're a fearless celebration of her own choices.

Like Jay Z said, she's postmodern in the best way, and the old world is, accordingly, in revolt. Miley finds power in her sexuality, even twisting it into a goofiness and gender-subverting "dick pic" that LOLs at penis envy and porn at the same damn time. We come from a generation that's already seen it all, in videos and photos that we can rewind and pause on handheld devices. The intimately styled Terry Richardson photo shoot reveals all while still hiding the selfiest truth: these photos aren't for us, they're for her.

And, unlike plentiful reviews on the illustrious Ms. Cyrus, I won't end this article by saying "let Miley live" because she can't and won't stop doing just that. Bro, she doesn't need your permission.

Essential Tracks: "We Can't Stop", "Adore You", and "Maybe You're Right"

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I hear you. There have been problems with Miley Cyrus. Read Jody Rosen's ironclad takedown or the countless other essays by women of color to get a taste of how she's messed up, at her VMA performance and elsewhere. I read all of them, and I'm glad that conversation has been started, that those voices are being heard.

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"I still really can’t stand the way people keep pinning Miley’s cribbing from a wide variety of other cultures and styles as somehow evil. And, it’s not just hip-hop on this album, but country, EDM, vampy balladry, and more. This is basically what white girls in America do. Why? Because there is essentially no culture for white women in America beyond sex, daughter/wife roles, and beauty, and for some of us, that is not enough."

— Caitlin White for Consequence of Sound)

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Nearing the end of 2012, Miley didn't feature in many more movies and TV shows as she was more focused on re-establishing her music career.

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When Miley made a comeback in 2013, she returned with a completely new look and sound. Miley described it as a "dirty south hip-hop" and made a very clear point about feeling 'disconnected' to her earlier sound. This new sound & look that Miley had created was met with controversy.

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When Miley left her Hannah Montana / Disney career behind.

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Miley Cyrus adopted a fully vegan diet in 2014 and has since made major moves to try and promote a sustainable, ethical, vegan lifestyle.  Even though she adopted the vegan diet in 2014, she has since become more aware of the lifestyle changes that must be adopted in order to promote a vegan lifestyle. She recently opted out of wearing any fashion items derived from animals, e.g. fur, leather, silk etc. She also makes it a mission to speak openly about the changes she has made in order to encourage others to do the same.

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The music Cyrus Produced as a teenager in many ways still resonates with her fans, who have been with her and grown up with her and her many idenities. "Party in the USA" is still loved & partied to around the World. Furthermore, songs from her time as Hanna Montana are still enjoyed and sang around the world. For example 'The Climb' is an iconic song from her time as the Disney star.

As Miley embraces her past, she began to acknowledge her past work and - again - sing these loved songs to her fans. Also, by doing this Cyrus supports and gives back to the fans that have been with her from the start & through all her difficulties.

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Miley released 8 music albums under the name of her Disney Star personality. This in turn made it difficult for Miley to establish her own identity away from that of her fictional, childish Disney persona.

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'LOL' was a turning point for Cyrus, she challenged the image she had created for herself by acting in a movie that wasn't as child-friendly as her previous work and explored more crude and explicit topic areas.

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Again, Cyrus feature is a Romantic Comedy in which she plays the part of a young, private investigator 'Molly'. The narrative of the film centres around Molly, who chooses to take on an assignment from the FBI to keep an eye on the dagger of a senator,  Alex. Molly must therefore enter the wildlife of college sororities.

Cyrus, again plays into that younger demographic by featuring in these types of films. She plays into the image that she created for herself in her 'Hannah Montana' years.

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'LOL' was a film featuring Miley Cyrus. The film came out shortly after Cyrus had left Hannah Montana. Cyrus plays the part of 'Lola', a teenager struggling to navigate her way through adolescent life, relationships, sex and trying to find out 'who she is'. The character that Cyrus plays was very different to anything that she had featured in (e.g. Hannah Montana & Te Last Song) before, and it's crude humour and more explicit content featured in the film was quite a shock to those who had known Cyrus as 'Hannah Montana' .

The film turned out to be a 'flop' amongst audiences, and perhaps this was due to Cyrus's target audience being used to a more child-friendly, loving and less crude character.

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This popular teen rom-com features Miley Cyrus playing a part of a troubled teenager who reconnects with her estranged father and on this journey also finds herself falling in love with a boy, who was played by Liam Hemsworth. The movie was based on a novel written by Nicholas Sparks, a writer famous for his emotionally loaded romantic novels.

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Because of the show's success - Hannah Montana had became part of Cyrus's identity and star image. It was hard to break away from this identity and as a result ended up in quite radical action for Miley to disconnect herself from this identity.

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Miley Cyrus was the star of a very popular Disney Channel show called 'Hannah Montana' between 2006 and 2011. The show's success meant that Cyrus took part in 4 seasons, a movie, and 8 music albums before she retired as the character.

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Miley's father Billy Ray Cyrus is a well-know country singer, most known for his single 'Achy Breaky Heart'. Therefore, Miley Cyrus has been in the limelight from a very young age. Furthermore, her exposure to the celebrity lifestyle within such a developmental phase of her life may have negatively impacted the relationship she then went on to have with her own celebrity image and career.

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Cyrus created a non-profit organization which is dedicated to supporting the youthful LGBTQ community - which Cyrus has been very open about supporting and being a part of. The NGO was was launched in 2014 and makes it sales through the selling of merchandise and through donations.

Their website states:

"Our mission is to rally young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations."

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The Happy Hippie Foundation rallies young people to fight injustice.

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Cyrus has used her influence and platform to speak out for oppressed groups within society and try and speak out for those who feel they have no voice.

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'A Gay Icon'

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There were fans, critics and artists who were accepting of Miley's new image.