Media’s current “it girl” Miley Cyrus released her new album Bangerz on October 4, showing the world who the “new Miley” really is. With every song containing Cyrus’s country-rooted voice over heavy beats and electronic sounds, the change in her music style is obvious. Her first single from the album, “We Can’t Stop,” was a sneak peek into the hip-hop inspired album that was to come. With racy lyrics and nearly naked music videos (or as in “Wrecking Ball,” completely naked), it’s apparent that the little Disney girl who sang the “Hoedown-Throwdown” in “The Hannah Montana Movie” is a thing of the past.
Many of the songs on this album feature a look into Cyrus’s broken heart and ended engagement with Liam Hemsworth. The album opens with “Adore You,” an emotional ballad with a steady R&B beat. This song resembles the ever-so-popular “Wrecking Ball” with its slower tempo and minimally produced sound, but is more of a bittersweet reflection of what the couples’ relationship was and could have been.
Later in the album, the song “My Darlin’,” featuring Future, has a slightly faster beat but still maintains its ballad essence and features repeating lyrics from the classic song “Stand By Me.” Other lyrics such as “Take me as I am or not” gives insight that the breakup could have had to do with Cyrus’s quick identity change where she threw on grillz and miniscule clothing.
On the opposite end, the rest of the songs on her album tend to follow the theme of independence and having fun while getting back out there alone. “SMS (Bangerz),” featuring Britney Spears, is an upbeat digitized combination of rapping and singing about Cyrus forgetting about waiting around for a guy and “strutting her stuff.” With lyrics like “If he’s like that, I got a world tour that they need me at/ I can’t be sitting ‘round here waiting on a man,” it’s clear that no amount of negative emotions will hold her back. Another song, “4×4” featuring Nelly, embodies the same positive attitude of just having fun. However, the overall song was annoying and repetitive, showing that maybe rapping isn’t the path Cyrus’s music career should follow.
“Love Money Party” expresses the same ideas as “4×4” but has an enjoyable and uplifting combination of hip-hop inspired beats and technologized background vocals. While it may not be the song I would want to listen to on repeat, it is definitely worth a few listens.
Most of the songs on Cyrus’ album can be put in two balanced categories: emotional semi-ballads or upbeat “let’s just have fun” songs. Overall, this album was better than I expected; singles “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball” are just small examples of what to expect on this album. “Bangerz” may appeal most to those who favor a mix of hip-hop, pop and little R&B.
Even though many people may be hesitant to buy her album due to her new sexualized image in the media, this shouldn’t intimidate anyone from experiencing the album for themselves.
To my dismay, it seems as though Cyrus will never return to her country/folk sound that she experimented with briefly in September 2012, pre-haircut. She uploaded a series on Youtube called “The Backyard Sessions” where she sang classics such as “Lilac Wine” and “Jolene.” Her voice rang perfectly with the simple instrumentals behind her and she sounded like a true acoustic artist on the rise.
During this phase, Cyrus’s music went generally unnoticed. It’s unfortunate that she had to get naked before people would take notice. So before consumers decide to point fingers at the decisions of the “new Miley,” maybe they should take a step back and realize that their choice of media has an effect on the type of media produced.