Miley Cyrus is glowing and rejuvenated in the music video for her new single "Malibu."
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In the video, we see the pansexual popstar dancing wildly on a Malibu beach shore and lost in a dreamlike moment. "But here I am next to you," she hums over a soft guitar and kick drum. "The sky is more blue in Malibu."
We've never seen Miley quite like this, long hair blowing in the wind as the tide rolls in, happy and untroubled. The 2017 Pride headliner says the song is about her relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth and describes it as "gimmick-free pop-rock unlike anything she has recorded before."
This mellow Miley is a breath of fresh air for fans, but not everyone is buying her new carefree, indie-pop image. Cyrus has recently come under fire for her hippie rebranding.
In an interview with Billboard Magazine, Cyrus says she's no longer a fan of the hip-hop scene and its misogyny, which one could argue helped the teen-pop star shed her Disney image, gave her a #1 album (Bangerz) in 2013, and skyrocketed her into international spotlight.
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Many hip-hop fans and rappers feel Cyrus hit it and quit it, using the genre and it's cool points to prop herself up into superstardom, then quickly abandoned it once she was bored. Cyrus is seemingly unbothered by the claims of cultural appropriation and her self-titled album of wispy indie-pop is highly anticipated. But will her back-to-basics rebranding help or hinder her career?
What do you think of Miley's new image and single?
