Miley Cyrus Channels Her Fiercest, Strongest Self in New 'Charlie's Angels' Music Video

• Last night on YouTube, trio Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey released their new song "Don't Call Me Angel" for this year's Charlie's Angels reboot.
• Miley feels like the star of the show, and she is unapologetically going for it, per usual, with a number of references that could be pointed or not.
• Here's the latest in her new relationship with Kaitlynn Carter.

As of midnight last night, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, and Lana Del Rey released their new song for the Charlie's Angels November reboot, "Don't Call Me Angel," the catchy new song that's going to buried in your head for the next five days. The reactions online are mixed, saying the pieces of the song are discordant and don't really fit together—but I actually feel like the three singers' vibes and personalities were kept intact. In other words, they didn't give up anything of their own (VERY different) personas to come together and waltz around with enormous black wings and be badasses together, so I actually quite like it (I admit that Lana Del Rey's section feels like a totally different song, but I love her, soooo I'm just happy she's there). But the star is really Miley, who, after announcing her own #HotGirlSummer earlier this year, is giving us lyrics that proclaim her badassery proudly.

Miley's portion of the song comes first, and she's beating the crap out of some guy in a boxing ring. Here are the lyrics:

"Don't call me angel when I'm a mess
Don't call me angel when I get undressed
You know I, I don't like that, boy
I make my money and I write the checks
So say my name with a little respect
All my girls successful, and you're just our guest
Do I really need to say it
Do I need to say it again
You better stop the sweet talk
And keep your pretty mouth shut"

Getting the obvious out of the way first here, I know that she's referring to the listener in that line "You know I, I don't like that, boy," but I actually (mis)read it as "I don't like that boy" (clearly I'm still thinking about her split from Liam Hemsworth). The fact that she's also punching a guy in the face feels like it might relate a bit? But I'm speculating here—and Miley's put Liam into her songs more obviously before, like "Slide Away," so it's not necessarily her style to go vague. If she wants to get a point across, she will. (Update: Apparently Liam calls Miley "angel" all the time. I WAS RIGHT!)

Secondly, I'm loving her energy here. "Don't call me angel" and "I make my money and I write the checks / So say my name with a little respect" feel like she is telling everyone, critics especially, not to mess with her. Genius makes the point that she may also be referring to Ariana's "7 Rings" and "Successful" lyrics in her verse, which would be another interesting way to tie the pieces of the song together. Later in the video Miley channels her mischievous self by actually licking Ariana, so it's still all in good fun apparently. Ariana's "Thank U Next" collaborator Hannah Lux Davis directed this, and I can see the similarities—empowerment, with a little humor.

You can watch the full video for yourself:

And see what you think.

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