Miley Cyrus covers the latest issue of Billboard because she’s got a new album coming out. I sort of didn’t realize that Miley has been pretty quiet this year, but here we are. She’s been working on a new album and it’s apparently a lot different than Bangerz (which, full disclosure, I thought was a surprisingly good album). Miley claims repeatedly that she’s not smoking weed these days, but you honestly can’t tell because she talks like a hippie burnout throughout the whole interview. Remember when she smoked a blunt right before her Elle interview last year? That’s what this interview is like. You can read the full Billboard piece here. Some highlights:

She’s not high: “This is crazy but I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks!” She elaborates on why she decided to quit “for a second”: “I like to surround myself with people that make me want to get better, more evolved, open. And I was noticing, it’s not the people that are stoned. I want to be super clear and sharp, because I know exactly where I want to be.”

She’s looking to appeal to Trump-voting music-buyers too: “This record is a reflection of the fact that yes, I don’t give a f–k, but right now is not a time to not give a f–k about people. I’m ­giving the world a hug and saying, ‘Hey, look. We’re good — I love you.’ And I hope you can say you love me back.”

The songs about Liam Hemsworth & getting back together: “[The breakup happened] also ’cause I needed to change so much. And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard. Suddenly you’re like, “I don’t recognize you anymore.” We had to refall for each other.”

Her new album is singer-songwritery: “Yeah. But not granola. I don’t listen to Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and stuff.

Why she’s doing The Voice: “I’m down for hanging with Blake. I actually want to take ­advantage of the fact that he’s there, [because] his fans don’t really take me seriously as a ­country artist. One, I haven’t given them that music. But I’ve got a tattoo of Johnny Cash’s autograph that he gave me when I was a ­little girl that says, “I’m in your corner.” Dolly Parton is my ­f–king ­godmother. The fact that ­country music fans are scared of me, that hurts me. All the ­nipple pastie sh-t, that’s what I did because I felt it was part of my political movement, and that got me to where I am now. I’m evolving, and I surround myself with smart people that are evolved.

Whether her current thing is just another phase, like Gaga/Madonna’s phases: “I think [Madonna and Gaga] are ­enlightened. I ­f–king hate it when people can’t adjust. I used to [resist changing]. But I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks, which is the longest I’ve ever [gone without it]. I’m not doing drugs, I’m not drinking, I’m completely clean right now! That was just something that I wanted to do…It’s easy, dude. When I want something, it’s f–king easy for me. But if anyone told me not to smoke, I would have not done it. It’s because it was on my time. I know exactly where I am right now. I know what I want this record to be. And not in the sense of manipulation — wanting something from my fans or the audience, like some slimy thing — “How do I get attention?” I never thought about that. Dude, I was shocked that people gave a f–k about the [MTV Video Music Awards in 2013, when she ­performed with Robin Thicke] — the ­twerking, the teddy bear. It’s a totally ­different time, and I don’t think that would freak people out anymore.

The election: “I like the way I think right now. But don’t Trump supporters like the way they think? So I’ve also got to be open with the way I approach people with my opinions. That’s the only way to make real change. And it’s not because I want to sell records! I know now the ways that don’t work. Because I went really hard during the ­election. But at the end of the day, we lost. We won, but because the system is f–ked up, we lost. I thought, “OK. I learned my lesson on this one.”

[From Billboard]

Miley gives me a headache. Like, I want to like her and I want to respect her for doing her own thing and ignoring her haters, and I do genuinely believe that she’s a savvy artist and businesswoman. But she irritates the ever-loving sh-t out of me and I can only really take her in small doses. Of course she wants to appeal to Trump supporters in the name of unity… and selling music. Of course she wants a gold star for not getting high for three weeks. Of course none of this is just a phase, right?

There are also references to Liam Hemsworth throughout the piece. She lives with him in Malibu and she talks a bit about how she hates it when someone is “too masculine” because it “grosses me out.” Then she actually says these words: “But then, girls really make me sad a lot of the time too, especially right now. I think fashion has taken us a little bit downhill.” Says the girl who wore hot pants to twerk on stage with Robin Thicke?

Photos courtesy of Billboard.