In fact, the singer says she hopes her fans look up to her because she’s not trying to fit some Hollywood persona.

“I think I show people that they can be themselves,” she tells Harper’s Bazaar in the magazine’s August cover story. “I also think something that has been important for me, in this next little, like, transition phase of my career is that I don’t give a f— about being cool. I just want to be myself.”

Admittedly, the “Malibu” singer says she’s evolved in recent years – first from a Disney channel star, then to psychedelic artist singing about her Dead Petz and, more recently, to a more musically low-key Cyrus.

“People get told that it’s a bad thing to change,” she tells the magazine. “Like, people will say, ‘You’ve changed.’ And that’s supposed to be derogatory.”

Cyrus thinks, however, “you are supposed to change all the time.”

As a veteran in the music industry at only 24, Cyrus says often people “think they know me.”

“I heard so many comments like, ‘We just want Miley back.’ But you can’t tell me who that is,” she shares. “I’m right here.”

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She knows, however, that she’s ruffled some feathers throughout the years. “People were so shocked by some of the things that I did,” Cyrus says.

“It’s no wonder that a lot of people lose their way and lose who they really are because they always have people telling them who to be.”

Among Cyrus’ more headline-grabbing recent changes is her decision to quit using marijuana after a longtime, public love affair.

She assures Harper’s, however, it’s “just for now.”

“To quote the wise Justin Bieber, ‘Never say never,’ ” she jokes. “But right now I want to be clear.”