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Miley’s Metamorphosis

Miley Cyrus – Country Pop Star, actress, life of the party- she’s been it all and certainly has seen it all- while we’ve watched. Here, I will break down the different phases for you by album:

Breakout

This was still Miley’s teen idol stage. This was her first solo album, aside from Hannah Montana so in a sense this was kind of Miley coming out of her shell a bit saying hey- I’m more than just a Disney actress. The album still portrayed her innocence but had certain twists in it showing that she was a normal teen girl too i.e “7 Things” and “Fly On The Wall”.

The Time Of Our Lives

At 17, she came a bit more out of her shell known for single “Party in the USA”. This came with a lot of controversy, mainly with how she presented the song. The main issue that sparked the controversy was her performance at the 2009 Teen Choice awards where she performed the hit single but- dancing on a stripper pole. Not only were people criticizing the stripper pole but, her dance moves which were seen as provocative and risky. A large reason why this blew up so much in the media was because not only was she just 17 years old however, she had just come from this innocent image of being Hannah Montana and working with Disney Channel, so it was a big shock to the world and fanbase. “Disney Channel won’t be commenting on that performance,” the network said in a statement, “although parents can rest assured that all content presented on the Disney Channel is age-appropriate for our audience – kids 6-14 – and consistent with what our brand values are.” Although this created quite a buzz of negativity, the single continued to succeed in the industry, reaching the number 1 played song on I-tunes and was also hot on the Billboard charts.

Can’t Be Tamed

In 2010 she starred in “The Last Song” with (now her fiancée) Liam Hemsworth. This gave her a bit more of a mature image, until she released third album “Can’t Be Tamed”. The lyrics got racier, and so did the live performances – she had officially broke out of her good-girl Disney image. However, she did release a final ‘Hannah Montana’ album following this one, which wasn’t a smart move. Due to her controversial image, the Disney album was a flop. It is shocking enough that Disney even moved forward to release another album because of all of the choices she made. In October of 2010, a video was released of Cyrus smoking Salvia, which blew up. Cyrus defended herself by saying “I made a mistake … I’m disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans.” In reality, this is pretty normal for an 18-19 year old college student but, it was such a big deal because it was Miley.

Bangerz

Miley had signed with RCA Records and began working with bigger producers such as Pharell Williams to put out her fourth album, “Bangerz”. The album had a more hip-hop influenced sound, as opposed to her past albums which had a more dance stylization to them. The big single for this album was “We Can’t Stop”, which did not beat around the bush at all. Cyrus was now out in the open with no fear to give her message loud and clear – that she basically gave no fucks. She then performed on the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards along-side Robin Thicke wearing basically nothing, and twerking and grinding on him while wearing a foam finger. Throughout the performance there were many blunt and sexualized dance moves that some viewers were very shocked by, but this was all just to ensure the audience that Hannah Montana was far gone, and that Miley was here. The single was a hit, along with “Wrecking Ball”.

Overall, the album was very successful. Although her role-model image was going downhill, her commercialized fame was just getting bigger. The people loved all the controversy and how out there she was but- Liam Hemsworth sure didn’t. Her engagement was called off , for the time being.

Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz

This album was wild- to say the least. It didn’t do so well commercially, but it wasn’t supposed to. It was a surprise release, and did not have much advertising. She collaborated with The Flaming Lips on this one, in which you can see the influence on many of the tracks. Overall, the album was a mess- and so was she. Topic included graphic sex, being “Fucking fucked up”, smoking marijuana- it all just seemed as if she was trying too hard to say “hey I do drugs and drink”. This was no surprise to the media though, and that is why the album was no commercial success. The world knew that this was Miley, and there was no longer and shock factor.

Although she possessed this wild image, she did have her charity “Happy Hippie” which rallies young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations. It wasn’t that Cyrus was ever a harm to society, she was just wild. She always had good motives and promoted positivity and justice to the world.

Malibu

Just recently, Cyrus has released her new single “Malibu” with a completely new image, and outlook. Cyrus has been clean of Marijuana and Alcohol for several weeks, and has also reunited with fiancée Liam Hemsworth, in which the two are now living in Malibu together. The song is all about happiness, and how happy she is in nature and Malibu with the love of her life and how she would not have been there, if it weren’t for him. Additionally, she explores a completely new and refreshing sound. She explains that she had certain growing to do, and she had to do it on her own rather than with someone who isn’t going through the same thing.

It’s interesting how she started with this innocent teen idol image, to a complete badass, to completely clean- its almost back to where she started in a way. I feel as though she tried to hard to portray this bad girl image because she was tired of being the good girl and she wanted the world to think something different- which resulted in this obnoxious outburst.

I love the idea of how real this is- she is a real person, and she isn’t hiding anything. She isn’t afraid to be out in the open about everything she went through, and about how she is now cleaning up and focusing on all of the little things in life that are bringing her true happiness. I think this sets a good example for youth, for anyone- to show that it is never too late to clean up and have a fresh start.

About author

Lifestyle Editor & Music Writer at Live in Limbo. Freelance Music Journalist, aspiring to be as good as William Miller from Almost Famous. Indie/Alternative music fanatic, and a Media Studies student with some chill vibes.