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Miley Cyrus has a new single and a new album on the way and this week Billboard released her first interview in some time to promote her new music, but after a few sketchy comments it’s her thoughts on hip-hop that have received all the attention. In the piece, Miley noted that she’s enjoying Kendrick Lamar’s new song “Humble” because “it’s not “Come sit on my d*ck, suck on my c*ck.” I can’t listen to that anymore.”
In the past she’s been accused of exploiting hip-hop for her personal gain, a troubling, problematic and longstanding trend within music, and now it seemed she’d finished the final stage of her exploitation by casting the genre and the culture aside.
After all of the criticism Miley has come forward to clarify her comments and her stance on hip-hop in a lengthy Instagram post. Miley said, amongst other things, “I have always and will continue to love and celebrate hip hop” and “At this point in my life I am expanding personally/musically and gravitating more towards uplifting, conscious rap.”
When articles are read it isn’t always considered that for hours I’ve spoken with a journalist about my life , where my heart is, my perspective at that time, and the next step in my career. Unfortunately only a portion of that interview makes it to print, & A lot of the time publications like to focus on the most sensationalized part of the conversation. So, to be clear I respect ALL artists who speak their truth and appreciate ALL genres of music (country , pop , alternative …. but in this particular interview I was asked about rap) I have always and will continue to love and celebrate hip hop as I’ve collaborated with some of the very best! At this point in my life I am expanding personally/musically and gravitating more towards uplifting, conscious rap! As I get older I understand the effect music has on the world & Seeing where we are today I feel the younger generation needs to hear positive powerful lyrics! I am proud to be an artist with out borders and thankful for the opportunity to explore so many different styles/ sounds! I hope my words (sung or spoken) always encourage others to LOVE…. Laugh…. Live fully…. to be there for one another… to unify, and to fight for what’s right (human , animal , or environmental ) Sending peace to all! Look forward to sharing my new tunes with you soon! – MC
This too, is problematic, as the notion is she’s evolved as a person to the point that she’s beyond “regular” rap and now only enjoying “conscious” rap, portraying typical rap as a lesser form of art. It’s a standard retort to this sort of backlash, and likely won’t do much to change the current conversation surrounding her.
