There is no secret that Miley Cyrus isn’t Hannah Montana anymore. Both the character and the cookie-cutter personality that came along with it have completely vanished. Some people say that she’s definitely hit rock bottom. Other people argue that she’s ‘just being Miley,’ and she is an incredible artist. However, after her raunchy performance at the VMAs, her new music video for ‘Wrecking Ball,’ and various nude cover shoots, fans are wondering where the root of her rebellion began. Could it be a result of her relationship with Liam Hemsworth or was she bound to head down this twerk-filled path, after all?

Cyrus’ 2013 VMA performance made headlines all over the nation. The performance was probably the craziest thing to have splashed the covers of newspapers since the Britney and Madonna kiss. The world is still talking about Cyrus’ performance because of the fact she was twerking aggressively on stage, sticking her tongue out profusely, and displaying provocative behavior that we wouldn’t expect from a former Disney star. Fans say her behavior seemed to have changed when she cut off her long locks and donated her hair to cancer. She experimented with edgy hairstyles and it seems her personality followed. Cyrus’ style has notably gone from sweet and innocent to provocatively rebellious.

“I think her need for rebellion is because she wants to break away from the character she played since she was 12,” said sophomore Kali Steverson. Steverson has been a fan of Cyrus since she was Hannah Montana. “I think she was desperate for people to forget about Hannah Montana and in desperate situations people do desperate things.”

Cyrus recently released her new music video for ‘Wrecking Ball,” which easily caused a stir in the media. In the video she is seen swinging around naked on a cannon ball and licking a sledgehammer. However, in an interview, the 20-year-old told “The Daily News” that her display was symbolic of where she is in her life right now.

“I think the video is much more, if people get past the point that I’m naked and you actually look at me,” Cyrus said. “You can tell that I actually look more broken than even the song sounds.”

After a public break up, her fans pointed to Hemsworth as the problem and said that Cyrus was emotionally destroyed by it.

“It could be that Miley felt trapped in her relationship,” transfer student Carlin Iannarelli said. “Maybe Liam was holding her back and she was trying desperately to grow up her own way and move on.”

Cyrus is also nude and gracing the cover of “Rolling Stone” magazine this month. In an interview with the magazine, she talks about when she started to change and rebel, which was exactly three years ago. Little by little, America’s sweetheart traded in her innocent status for tattoos, and cars for motorcycles. When she was filming her movie “LOL,” Cyrus says the setting changed her.

“Detroit’s where I felt like I really grew up. It was only for a summer, but that’s where I started going to clubs, where I got my first tattoo. Well, not my first tattoo, but my first without my mom’s consent,” she said

With the support of her family, Cyrus doesn’t seem to care about what people may think of her. She is continuing to transform her looks and music and is also being featured on rapper Juicy J and Mike Will Made It’s track, “23.”

Whether or not this is a temporary or long-term change is unclear. Regardless this is a different, much more eccentric Cyrus than the one the world was introduced to years ago.