One of six 2015 Grammy nominees up for the Best Pop Vocal Award, Miley Cyrus is still reaping the benefits from when she shook up her musical sound on Oct. 8, 2013 with her album produced by RCA Records, Bangerz. With everything from ballad induced techniques in “Adore You,” R&B collaborations with several well known rappers (French Montana, Ludacris, Nelly, etc.), to heartbroken anthems portrayed in “FU” and “Wrecking Ball,” the previous Disney star shows her true colors through an array of audacious song configurations.
The explicit album’s less widely known fourth track, “4x4” featuring Nelly, mirrors the twerking queen’s hometown in the referral to riding around in a pick up truck. Her country twang definitely adds emphasis to the portrayal of the Tennessee lifestyle. Both lyrical segments “a little bit of dirt never hurt nobody, now I got dirt all over my body” and “his big fog lights is bright as hell” convey stereotypical country lingo. Cyrus also flaunts her feminism in the recurring “I’m a female rebel” line. Subliminal messages or not, the overall feeling of the track is carefree and goes hand-in-hand with a spontaneous car ride.
“Do My Thang” is practically Cyrus’ anthem. If it sounded as cool as Bangerz, it would have made a perfect title track. The gist of it reveals that she’s going to continue to do what society looks down on, i.e. party, smoke, post naked pictures, and the media, along with the rest of the world shouldn’t worry about it. Her focus revolves around doing what she loves and what she wants to do, no matter what the world thinks. The bass infiltrated chorus makes for a perfect dance beat, like a extended climax to an electronic dance song. The lyrics “mind your business, stay in you lane b*tch” perfectly exemplifies the essence of this “sticking it to the man” jam.
The original breakout single “We Can’t Stop” rocked the nation with the help of Cyrus’ musical partner in crime, Mike Will. Like several of the other songs on Bangerz, the lyrics express a tribute to partying and being yourself. “It’s our party we can do what we want to, it’s our house we can love who we want to” exposes a political viewpoint of Cyrus, but also reinstates her theme of being who you are and owning it, regardless of everyone else’s opinions.
With five collectable album covers that display each side of Cyrus similar to each track on the album, Bangerz proves worthy of the 57th annual Grammy Awards.