Miley Cyrus Talks Working w/ Pharrell & Loving ‘Hood’ Music: ‘A lot of people wanted to make me the white Nicki Minaj’

Miley Cyrus has faced a lot of criticism for the urban-nature of her latest single, “We Can’t Stop“.

In the latest issue of Billboard magazine, Miley opens up about the evolution of her sound.

“I’ve always wanted country-rock influences, but now I’m moving over to a more urban side,” she says. “It’s not a hip-hop album, though-it’s a pop album. I’m not coming in trying to rap. It’s more like, ‘I don’t see any girls out there doing what Miguel and Frank Ocean are doing.'” Cyrus pauses, giggling. “We’ve been calling it ‘count-step,’ because it’s like country, dubstep and a little trap,” she says. “I love the Lumineers, but I also love French Montana, Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa and Dolly Parton. If you could put Dolly, some Adele and Juicy J together, you’d have that weird balance.”

She goes on to say:

“A lot of people wanted to try to make me the white Nicki Minaj,” Cyrus says. “That’s not what I’m trying to do. I love ‘hood’ music, but my talent is as a singer.” To that end, Edge is particularly excited about “Wrecking Ball”-a defiant power ballad produced by Dr. Luke with a thrilling vocal performance. “We were inspired by One­Republic, and the way Timbaland used to do those big ballads,” Cyrus says. Edge adds: “When Miley came to us she had really good songs already, including ‘Wrecking Ball,’ which blew us away. It could be a career song for her.”

You can read the full story over at Billboard. Miley’s album drops later this year.