Miley Cyrus on Pharrell’s Massive Impact on Her Career and Teaming up After Nearly a Decade

Miley Cyrus and Pharrell are teaming up again. It’s the first time that the two have teamed up in around a decade.

The new song is called “Doctor (Work It Out).” Pharrell produced the song, which has set collecting dust for a bit. Cyrus originally intended to feature the song on her 2013 album Bangerz.

Lyrics include: “I could be your doctor/ And I could be your nurse/ I think I see the problem/ It’s only gon’ get worse (Uh, uh)/ A midnight medication/ Just show me where it hurts (Uh)/ I need to rock you, baby/ Before your body bursts.”

In an interview with Billboard, Cyrus reflected on his Pharrell changed the trajectory of her career. The singer was coming off Hannah Montana and looking for a rebrand.

“He was really the only one that I could kind of tell him what I really wanted. What I really wanted to make, who I really wanted to be, what I really wanted to do,” Cyrus said. “I think Pharrell was perfect because it was almost like he could be a bumper for me. But he wasn’t going to be a bridle.”

Miley Cyrus on Why She Is Releasing The Song Now

Cyrus would turn to Pharrell for advice. She said she really valued his advice on things.

“He was kind of the only one — I knew that everyone around me would tell me no — and he was really the only one that I asked, ‘What did he think?’” she added. “And he was like, ‘Go for it today, tomorrow, as soon as you can. That sounds like exactly the perfect thing to do.’”

Likewise, Pharrell also reflected on meeting Cyrus for the first time. He said he connected with the artist over how she felt.

“I’ll never forget just meeting her at a time where people had pegged her to be one thing particularly,” he said. “She was Hannah Montana at the time, and she was growing up and really wanting to experience life no matter how far the precipice was, that was her … I just remember her just being in a place where no one really understood what she was, and I got it.”

They decided to finally give the song its proper release after discussing it.

“We just believe so much in timing and in everything happening when it’s supposed to,” Cyrus said. “Around the Grammys, Pharrell and I were talking about putting the song out, and it just felt like it was so serendipitous, and there were so many alignments and so many moments that made me know that now was the perfect time.”

[Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images]