Miley - a musical rabbit hole

The Discovery

I fell into a rabbit hole after seeing a tweet (an X? I refuse to pick a side) by a Camila Cabello fanpage. Not my usual content, but I digress. Expecting to hear a preview of a new pop song, I was met with a unique electronic sound, entirely different from anything I’d heard from her in the past. Immediately, I wanted more.

A bit of digging led to disappointment: the clip came from a song originally meant for Cabello’s album C,XOXO, but one that never made the final cut. The only audible lyric in the snippet? Miley. A producer tag, maybe? The snippet stuck with me. I returned to it again and again, and I couldn’t help but wonder why she would shelve something so striking— just for me to ultimately find out that this uniqueness was possibly the reason why.

Copycat Rumours

In the lead-up to C,XOXO, Cabello teased that the album would incorporate hyperpop influences. That single comment was enough to ignite the internet. Suddenly, people were accusing her of copying Charli xcx in the wake of Brat, which had just exposed the genre to a new wave of listeners.

Hyperpop had been thriving long before Brat, but the narrative became simple: anyone following that path was trying to be Charli, regardless of intention.

“I said something like ‘elements of hyperpop’ [somewhere]. I hate that I said that, because people ran with this thing before the album was even out.” - Cabello for Nylon

Through all of this, Cabello and Charli remained openly supportive of each other, sharing playful nods online with zero signs of tension. The rivalry existed only between fans.

Though it’s not confirmed that this fiasco is the reason Cabello chose to keep this track unreleased, many believe it could’ve influenced the decision by her or her label.

So where did the song go?

Months passed, and I forgot about the long-lost snippet. That was until now. While watching a video, I recognised the background music and looked at the description to finally see it had been released…just not under Camila Cabello. I was skeptical at first. It’s not unusual for leaked tracks to get uploaded by strangers under throwaway artist names on streaming services. But this wasn’t one of those cases.

The track, now titled Foundation, had been officially released under Miley, clocking in at just 45 seconds. Moreover, it wasn’t a standalone drop. It forms part of a full album by the name of Language. So who is Miley and what’s the relation to Camila Cabello?

Meet Miley

Miley is a producer duo consisting of members Jasper Harris and Aaron Shadrow, and Harris was part of the production of the entirety of C,XOXO. While the name might be unfamiliar, Jasper Harris’ impact on today’s music is anything but obscure. His fingerprints are all over some of the biggest and most innovative projects in recent years. Playboi Carti, FKA Twigs, Kendrick Lamar, Charli xcx and Caroline Polachek — the list goes on.

Why Miley Remains in the Shadows

So why does a producer of such stature remain largely unknown, even while he’s dominating the charts? Our answer probably lies in the nature of production itself. Producers’ names don’t appear front and centre. However, producing music under an alias like Miley allows the duo to experiment and explore sounds that might be too risky or unconventional for mainstream releases.

For fans of experimental and electronic music, let this be your introduction — an invitation to discover their discography and, more importantly, a reminder: experimentation is vital, and our favourite music wouldn’t exist without it. We should never bring down an artist for trying something new.