Miley Cyrus Apologizes For Making “Insensitive” Comments About Hip-Hop

VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

Miley Cyrus Apologizes For Making “Insensitive” Comments About Hip-Hop

VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

Two years ago, Miley Cyrus had a few things to say about rap music. By way of praising Kendrick Lamar, she claimed that she was “so not into” some aggressively sexual rap music. Most fans interpreted those remarks as an attempt to distance herself from her own past. In 2013, Cyrus had great success with Bangerz, an album of aggressively sexual and rap-influence music that she’d recorded with collaborators like the rap super-producer Mike Will Made-It. But in 2017, Cyrus was rebranding, attempting to return to wholesome and country-influenced pop music. Her comments did not go over well. And yesterday, she offered a public apology in an unlikely place: A YouTube comment.

Those original comments had come from a Billboard cover story. Here’s what Cyrus said at the time:

I also love that new Kendrick [Lamar] song [“Humble”]: “Show me somethin’ natural like ass with some stretch marks.” I love that because it’s not “Come sit on my dick, suck on my cock.” I can’t listen to that anymore. That’s what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much “Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock” — I am so not that.

In an Instagram post a couple of days later, Cyrus wrote about her comments for her comments, saying that they were taken out of context, but she didn’t apologize:

At this point in my life I am expanding personally/musically and gravitating more towards uplifting, conscious rap! As I get older I understand the effect music has on the world & Seeing where we are today I feel the younger generation needs to hear positive powerful lyrics!

But now, as USA Today points out, Cyrus has offered a full apology for those statements, acknowledging the privilege that went into them. Cyrus was responding to a video called “Miley Cyrus Is My Problematic Fav…Sorry” from a YouTube user named As Told By Kenya. The half-hour video, which is largely laudatory, does call Cyrus out on those 2017 comments: “It was bad, it was racially insensitive, it had racist undertones, and it wasn’t OK, point blank, period.”

In a comment on that video, Cyrus, using her own YouTube account, agreed, writing that what’s she’d said was wrong and “insensitive”:

Just watched your video. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak up. Being silent is not like me at all. I am aware of my platform and have always used it the best way I know how and to shine a light on injustice. I want to start with saying I am sorry. I own the fact that saying … “this pushed me out of the hip hop scene a little” was insensitive as it is a privilege to have the ability to dip in and out of “the scene”. There are decades of inequality that I am aware of, but still have alot learn about. Silence is apart of the problem and I refuse to be quiet anymore. My words became a divider in a time where togetherness and unity is crucial . I can not change what I said at that time , but I can say I am deeply sorry for the disconnect my words caused. Simply said ; i fucked up and I sincerely apologize . I’m committed to using my voice for healing , change , and standing up for what’s right. Miley

Here’s the video that prompted the Cyrus response:

Cyrus just released the new EP She Is Coming, which features contributions from Mike Will Made-It, RZA, Ghostface Killah, and Swae Lee. It has not been getting good reviews.

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