Miley Cyrus is opening up about how her collaboration with Beyoncé, "II Most Wanted," came together in a new interview with W Magazine.
"Getting to write a song, not just sing, for Beyoncé was a dream come true," she said in the new feature.
While it's a centerpiece on Beyoncé's latest album Cowboy Carter, Cyrus said she wrote the song "two and a half years ago."
"My mom would always go, 'I love that song so much.' So when Beyoncé reached out to me about music, I thought of it right away because it really encompasses our relationship."
Cyrus then revealed that she told Beyoncé, "'We don’t have to get country; we are country. We’ve been country.' I said, 'You know, between you being from Texas and me being from Tennessee, so much of us is going to be in this song.'"
Cyrus previously spoke about their relationship when the song first came out earlier this year.
"I’ve loved Beyoncé since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her," she wrote on Instagram. "My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her. Thank you Beyoncé. You’re everything & more. Love you. To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sincerely, Miley."
While explaining how her performing persona is akin to drag later in the interview, Cyrus also revealed that she regularly texts Beyoncé, as well as her godmother, Dolly Parton.
"I definitely have a persona—an expanded, fully realized version of myself that I tap into as a performer. But then there’s a level of my life that’s super intimate, sacred, and secret," she explained. "Sometimes I forget to talk about things that are a normal part of my day-to-day, like texting with Beyoncé. I think it’s a really cute part of our relationship, because over the past couple of years I’ve really locked down on my privacy and on what I share with the public. She’s the same way. Part of our relationship is the safety between us. The songwriting or the work is just a small part of my relationship with her—or with Dolly, or with anyone. Our personas have a relationship, but then we have a relationship. And I love that."
Cyrus also recalled performing alongside the pop superstar at the Stand Up to Cancer benefit when she was just 14 years old. Following the performance, "Beyoncé sent me a House of Deréon jacket that said Miley on the back in gold studs" for Christmas and "some jeans with my name on it."
"In one of my songs, 'Cattitude,' I say, 'And for my 16th birthday, I got Deréon from the house of the queen,'" Cyrus notes.
The "Wrecking Ball" singer also commented on not being taken seriously by the music industry until "Flowers" won big at The Grammy's earlier this year.
“No shade," she said, "but I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and this is my first time actually being taken seriously at the Grammys? I’ve had a hard time figuring out what the measurement is there, because if we want to talk stats and numbers, then where the fuck was I? And if you want to talk, like, impact on culture, then where the fuck was I? This is not about arrogance. I am proud of myself."
Listen to "II Most Wanted" wherever you stream music.