There’s a target on Miley Cyrus’ back these days. Even prior to her racy VMAs performance, critics riddled the former teeny-bopping pop star with shots directed at her new rockstar lifestyle, due to her penchant for twerking (race appropriation?) and working with hip-hop’s finest. But its those kings of the rap game who’ve assisted the country music heir into her new wild child reign. Kanye West included, the Bangerz singer says in her latest cover with Rolling Stone. 

“He came in and goes, ‘There are not a lot of artists I believe in more than you right now,'” she tells the publication of her pre-VMA chat with Yeezy. “The whole room went quiet. I was like, ‘Yo – can you say that again?!'” She adds, “I just kept repeating that over and over in my mind, and it made me not nervous.”

Amidst recording their forthcoming collab “Black Skinhead (Remix),” Yeezus and the tween disciple have built a mentor-style relationship. “Kanye is the shit. I kind of have a good relationship with him now. It’s good to have someone you can call and be like, ‘Yo, do you think I should wear this?’ ‘Do you think I should go in the studio with this guy?’ ‘Do you think this is cool?’ That’s what homies are supposed to do.”

Although middle America will continue to take aim at Miley every chance they get, the “Wrecking Ball” singer does have one thing to say about her twerk-and-tongue-out behavior: “I’ll probably never do that shit again.”

Read the full interview here.