A lesson from Miley Cyrus's new video: If you want to look "cool" and "edgy" and "tough," just steal the styles and dance moves of Black people.

The new pseudo-thugged out Miley has been percolating for a while; from her twerking unicorn suit video to her appearance on stage at a Juicy J show, the former Disney darling seems drawn to specific elements of a specific form of hip-hop. Not socially-conscious hip-hop. Dirty South/crunk hip-hop associated with strip clubs, pimps and drug dealers. Juicy J is formerly of Three 6 Mafia, a group who rose to fame with hits like Slob On My Knob and It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp. The track Miley popped her ass to at his show, Bandz a Make Her Dance, is specifically about hanging out in the company of strippers. Some key lyrics:

Start twerking when she hear her song, stripper pole her income

We get trippy and then some, so nasty when she rollin’

She put that ass up in my hands, I remote control it

[…]

You say no to ratchet p*ssy; Juicy J can't

Racks er'where, they showin' racks, I'm throwing racks

In the VIP, rubber on I’m stretching that

Rich niggas tippin, broke niggas lookin

And it ain't a strip club if they ain't showin p*ssy

[…]

She make that ass clap, dancin' like she on a d*ck

Bring it back I threw a stack, that's one lucky bitch

Up and down she’s going she’s sliding on that pole

Making money, stacking them honey, shawty go

Miley seems to delight in dancing much like these strippers do: Twerking, popping the ass, bending at the waist and shaking her rump in the air. Fun. But basically, she, as a rich White woman, is "playing" at being a minority specifically from a lower socio-economic level. Along with the gold grill and some hand gestures, Miley straight-up appropriates the accoutrements associated with certain Black people on the fringes of society. (See: Ratchet Girl Anthem.)