I was only 9 years old when I heard Hannah Montana’s theme song on the television. Miley Cyrus had just started her Disney Channel career at the age of 13. She starred as Miley Stewart and was beginning her long pathway to stardom. I remember the show quickly becoming my favorite after school hobby. I knew all the words to every song and sometimes I could even quote most of the script from the episodes. Miley reflected herself through her Disney character and I found myself relating to her in many ways. She was boy crazy, loved to dance, dressed however she wanted, and had an amazing sense of humor. It’s everything I wanted to be. Miley became someone to look up to.
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she’s just being miley A couple years later, I got my first access to the internet through my mom’s dial-up laptop. I found myself signing up for all things Miley Cyrus. She was the only celebrity I found myself following. I wasn’t the type to care about anyone famous, but something about her really connected to my heart. Miley released her book “Miles to Go” about her real-life story growing up in Nashville and I could feel for her. She wrote about middle school bullies and having friends turn
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against her.
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When I was reading this book, I was
Fast forward to 2012, Miley did things
experiencing the same problems.
that got her bad publicity. She was wearing
Seeing someone breakthrough some
provocative clothing and smoking weed in
of the hardest times I was going
public. People even assumed that she had a
through was inspirational. It taught
Britney Spears moment when she bleached
me how to move on from what was
and cut off all of her hair. Although Miley
hurting me and I couldn’t be more
has been in the spotlight for bad news
thankful for her sharing her own
before, it had never been like this. Everyone
experiences. Thankfully, Middle
and even their mothers were talking badly
school came to an end and I found
about Miley and I remember defending her
myself listening to her songs about
because I felt bad that her public image
silly heartbreaks. Somehow I felt that
was getting twisted.
Miley knew all the words I wanted to say, but couldn’t think of.
This was a drastic change for those who didn’t know who she was already doing these things. She wanted to express her true self to the public eye and people weren’t ready for it. She wasn’t different from anyone else her age, but was trapped in a box for her whole life by the Disney Channel standards.
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we can’t stop
In 2014, Miley announced that she was doing a Bangerz tour and I had begged my mom to buy me floor tickets for Christmas. I knew it was the only thing that she could afford to get me, but I wanted to see Miley live so badly. I got the tickets to the show and I remember being so excited for the concert. It was insane to see that she was a real person. It felt weird to see someone for the first time, even though you feel like you’ve known them forever. It was the experience I had dreamed of. Glitter, balloons, confetti, money, tongues, inflatables, cowboy boots, bananas, and more. The whole show felt like a huge party, but you had to be there to know. Miley’s music continued to feel
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this way. She released “Miley Cyrus
and Her Dead Petz” and by this time people really had forgotten about her. This was one of her most experimental albums of all time and turned into my favorite. She talks about her dead pets and her boyfriend baby talking. This mixtape was truly different from everything else she had made. Miley talks about her life so specifically that you feel like she’s in the room talking to you. After it released, she planned a discreet tour with only 5 shows. My close friend Gary and I were able to score tickets to see it front row at the House of Blues for her craziest show yet. Once the day came we waited outside of the venue to be up against the barricade and she even passed by on her bus giving all of us in line a burger and fries from Wendy’s. Once I got inside it reminded me of the same set I had seen years earlier. Another house party for sure, but this time we went from drunk to
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love, money, party.
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emotional. She wore costumes as a slab of butter to wearing genital prosthetics. She was the most unpredictable person I knew and I was taking note of everything. You could hear the same power and emotion in her voice that she belted out from when I first started listening. It resonated with me. This crazy ride inspired me to design my box set around her because she deserves to be embraced for her love to have a good time. Miley can be a person who parties all the time to being the cry baby of the night. This box set includes curated playlists that display the different phases of a house party. The pregame, the rager, and the after party, where you get really emotional about your ex. She has a motivating mentality that you can be whoever you want whenever the f*ck you want. It has shaped me into the person I am today and I know I will always retain the warmth she has given me along the way.
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r
p e m
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g E 14
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And I had a d That I didn’t But I give a f
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I miss you so I think I mig
dream give a fuck uck
o bad, ht die.
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