Miley Cyrus Receives Backlash for 'Appropriating' Hip-Hop Culture

In a new interview, Miley Cyrus talks about her new music and gives some comments on hip-hop that haven't been well-received at all.

May 4, 2017

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Complex Original

Miley Cyrus is preparing to release her first major label studio album since the 2013 hit Bangerz. Speaking with Billboard ahead of the release of the still untitled album's single "Malibu," Cyrus discussed her "rootsy" new music and claimed that she's backed away "a little" from listening to hip-hop due to some of its lyrical subject matter.

Asked by John Norris about the "singer-songwriter-y" vibe of her new album and whether folk singer Melanie Safka (who performed with Cyrus on her Backyard Sessions web series in 2015) had any influence, Cyrus said she did. "But I also love that new Kendrick [Lamar] song ["Humble"]: 'Show me somethin' natural like ass with some stretch marks,'" Cyrus said. "I love that because it's not 'Come sit on my dick, suck on my cock.' I can't listen to that anymore."

Cyrus added: "That's what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much 'Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock'—I am so not that." Cyrus' comments on hip-hop have been met with criticism reminiscent of the original claims of appropriation lodged against her work on Bangerz:

In the Billboard interview, Cyrus also addressed the initial controversy surrounding her Bangerz era, including the criticism she received for using black backup dancers at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. "That became a thing, where people said I was taking advantage of black culture, and with [Bangerz collaborator] Mike [WiLL Made-It]—what the fuck?" Cyrus said. "That wasn't true. Those were the dancers I liked!"

Read the full Billboard interview, featuring more insight on Cyrus' follow-up to her 2015 free release Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, right here. Her new single hits the usual outlets May 11.