If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that Miley Cyrus made 2013 her bitch, from wrecking the music charts to setting tongues wagging (even more than her own!) Completely out there and brutually honest, she can't stop, and we won't stop ... obsessing over her.
When we last sat down with Miley Cyrus earlier this year for our Marach cover story, the most controversial thing about her was her chopped-off hair.
Since then, a few things have changed. Cyrus — who turns 21 on November 23 — stormed the MTV Video Music Awards with a sexed-up performance that broke the internet, launched a pair of hit singles (the party ode "We Can't Stop" and the emotional "Wrecking Ball") off her new album, Bangerz, and broke up with her fiancé, Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth. A messy parting with the man you'd planned to marry might drive some girls to the couch with a carton of Chunky Monkey, but not Miley. When we met up with her at a Hollywood soundstage just weeks after the breakup became official, she was giddy and confident in a skintight Versace jumpsuit. Why should Miley waste time crying when she's having the last laugh?
So much has changed since your last Cosmo cover! Is this the most insane year of your life so far?
Everything is so chaotic and crazy right now and it's so much all at once, but I'm living for it. I'm just having the best time ever, and everything's falling into place like it's supposed to. Even people who want to hate on me, they can't even shut down the fact that I'm literally what everyone is talking about. I don't want to say that I'm on top right now — I feel like I'm kind of an underdog in a cool way. It's almost punk rock to like me because it's not the right thing to do. Like, society wants to shut me down.
People were shocked by your VMA performance — but it was tame compared with the "We Can't Stop" video.
When people started complaining about the awards show, I was like, "Have you never seen the fucking video?" And what if I hadn't done that performance? The VMAs would have been bad. They would have been missing something. The show was kind of making fun of how serious the pop industry is.
strong>How did you feel when celebrities dissed you?
I don't really care. I think everyone would have given anything to be me at that moment, because I was being one hundred percent true to myself ... and not many people can say that. At the end of the day, I would say I'm a nice person, and I take pride in the fact that I treat everyone well. There's no reason for anyone to ever come at me, because I only want the best for everybody else. I have a song that's like, "Stay in your lane," because I'm not going to be you and you're definitely not going to be me, so don't throw shade. I don't ever throw shade at anyone.
What about the celebs who are on Team Miley?
The support of other artists is important because there are not many people who can relate to what I'm going through right now. Kanye West is one of those people, and Katy Perry has been so cool. It's easy for Kanye to support me because we're in totally separate lanes of competition, but for Katy to say that she appreciates what I'm really doing for the pop industry, that keeps you going. And I mean, who cares what the media buzz is if Kanye West is telling you that you're the shit?
You've gotten some flack from critics who say you're appropriating black culture.
I think two generations from now, everyone is going to be like, "What do you mean gay people couldn't get married? What do you mean anyone looked at you twice for having black girls dance with you onstage?" It's 2013! Like, why are we talking about what color the girls are onstage with me? I just can't believe it.
What about the little people you use in your live shows? Is that exploitative?
This isn't a part of my show — these are my real dancers; this is my real band. People happen to be little, but what I'm doing isn't a freak show. It's real, and it's making them feel beautiful. I want to build up everyone.
Where did the tongue thing come from?
It's the selfie generation! Old people see it and don't get it. I tell all the moms, "You guys don't understand; every single person does that." Get with it.
Do you feel like this is the most authentic you've been as a performer?
Everything that I'm doing is supposed to be life and art imitating each other, and so everything has always been honest at that time. When I did "Party in the USA," that was how I felt. When "We Can't Stop" came out, I was living that life. It's not like every day I went to the set [to act], I was ecstatic to be there, but when it comes to music, I've always been honest.
You're the busiest you've ever been. What's driving you right now?
On my first tour, I was an opening act, and the performers were so mean to me. They made me perform in front of a ripped-up bedsheet because they were like, "You can't use the whole stage." I just remember thinking, I have to work even harder. I've had to work so hard to get to where I am — and I've done it all myself. Obviously, I have a dope team, but I've had to be the conductor leading the way. I come up with the ideas, and I find the right people who I think can execute the ideas.
Last time we interviewed you, you said that your relationship with Liam was your number one priority. How have things been since the breakup?
Right now, I'm so focused on music that I'm not even letting myself get into a state where I'm not celebrating life. There's too much that's good to ever be focusing on something bad. Your mind can be your army or your enemy, so you have to learn how to control that.
This is the first time you've been single in years. How are you dealing with that?
I need to treat my music like a relationship — give it my time and all the attention it deserves — and that's my main love right now. This is the best time of my life. I'm going to look back on it and be like, "I wish I hadn't been dwelling over a breakup," you know? Because that's not what God wants my life to be about right now. God wants my life to be about being successful and being happy and blesting other people and being blessed.
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Photo: Peter Pedonomou
