It was the summer of 2013. Miley Cyrus was everywhere. She was swinging on wrecking balls, cutting her hair into a platinum pixie, and single-handedly making "twerking" a household word. But in the middle of that Bangerz era chaos, a specific lyric from a Mike WiLL Made-It track started a countdown clock in the minds of millions of fans. You know the one. The line "in about 3 years holla at me miley cyrus" wasn't just a throwaway bar; it became a bizarre pop culture prophecy that people actually marked on their digital calendars.
Honestly, it’s hilarious how much weight we put on a guest verse.
The track was "23," a sneaker anthem dedicated to Air Jordans. It featured Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, and a newly rebellious Miley rapping about "rocking J's" and "strutting in the club." When Mike WiLL Made-It dropped that specific timeline, the internet did what it does best: it obsessed. People took it literally. They thought it was a teaser for a secret collaboration, a marriage proposal, or maybe a total career rebrand.
Spoiler alert: 2016 came and went, and nobody really "hollered" in the way the fans expected.
The Cultural Context of 23 and that Infamous Line
To understand why "in about 3 years holla at me miley cyrus" went viral, you have to remember where Miley was in her life. She was shedding the Hannah Montana skin with a blowtorch. Working with Mike WiLL Made-It—the producer behind hits for Rihanna and Future—was her way of claiming a seat at the table in hip-hop culture.
The line itself was actually delivered by Mike WiLL. It served as a nod to her age and her evolving "cool factor." At the time, Miley was 20. Adding three years put her at 23, the same number as Michael Jordan’s jersey. It was a clever bit of branding. Marketing 101, really.
But the fans? They went deep.
💡 You might also like: Ashley My 600 Pound Life Now: What Really Happened to the Show’s Most Memorable Ashleys
Tumblr was flooded with theories. Some thought it was a contractual hint. Others thought Mike WiLL was "claiming" her for a future project once she "matured" into her new sound. It’s kinda wild looking back at the 2013 Twitter (now X) landscape. People were genuinely convinced that the year 2016 would bring a sequel to "23" or perhaps a joint album. Instead, we got Dead Petz and then the pivot to the folk-pop of Younger Now.
Life happened. The "holla" never manifested as a chart-topping single.
What Actually Happened in 2016?
So, did anyone actually holla?
By the time the "3 years" were up in late 2016, Miley Cyrus was in a completely different headspace. She wasn't the girl in the "23" video with the Chicago Bulls bikini anymore. She had gone through the psychedelic experimentalism of Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz and was quietly transitioning back to her roots. She was also back with Liam Hemsworth.
The rap-adjacent aesthetic was fading.
Mike WiLL Made-It and Miley stayed friends, though. That’s the nuance people miss. It wasn't a broken promise; it was just a lyric that didn't age into a product. In the music industry, three years is an eternity. Trends die. Producers move on to new sounds. Artists find new muses.
📖 Related: Album Hopes and Fears: Why We Obsess Over Music That Doesn't Exist Yet
If you look at the charts in 2016, the landscape had shifted toward the "tropical house" craze and the rise of streaming-first artists like Drake and The Chainsmokers. The gritty, Atlanta-inspired trap-pop of "23" felt like a relic of a very specific window in time.
Why We Are Still Talking About It
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.
The phrase "in about 3 years holla at me miley cyrus" lives on primarily as a meme. It represents that specific 2010s era of "imperial" pop stars—artists who were so big they could dictate the culture just by mentioning a date. It’s a bit like when Kanye West announces an album release date; we know it might not happen, but we talk about it anyway because the idea of it is exciting.
There’s also the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) factor of the song "23" itself. It was a pivotal moment for Mike WiLL Made-It’s EarDrummers label. It proved he could take a global pop star and successfully transplant her into a gritty rap video without it looking (too) forced. It was a massive commercial success, even if critics were divided on the "cultural appropriation" aspect of Miley's shift.
- The "23" music video has over 1 billion views. That’s a massive footprint for a song that was essentially a Nike commercial.
- Miley’s rap era was short-lived but impactful. It paved the way for other pop artists to experiment with trap beats.
- The lyric became a "timestamp" for fans. It’s one of the few lyrics from that era that people literally used to set reminders on their phones.
The Reality of Music Collaboration Timelines
Most people don't realize how messy music production is. A producer might say "holla at me in 3 years" because they have a specific vision that requires the artist to grow into a certain sound.
Or, honestly? It just sounded cool and fit the rhyme scheme.
👉 See also: The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads: Why This Live Album Still Beats the Studio Records
Mike WiLL Made-It has spoken in various interviews about his work with Miley, often praising her work ethic. He saw her as a "rock star" who could do anything. But the music business is fickle. Labels change their minds. A&Rs get fired. Sometimes a "holla" is just a shoutout between friends that never makes it to the recording booth.
The irony is that while the world waited for the 2016 "holla," Miley was busy becoming one of the most respected vocalists of her generation. She moved past the gimmicks. She didn't need to be "hollered at" by a producer to stay relevant; she reinvented herself as a rock-powerhouse cover queen and eventually landed a massive hit with "Flowers."
Actionable Steps for Navigating Pop Culture Rumors
If you’re a fan of Miley or any major artist, you’ve probably been burned by "coming soon" teasers or cryptic lyrics before. Here is how to actually track these things without losing your mind.
- Check the Producer's Credits: If an artist says they are working with someone like Mike WiLL or Pharrell, look at the producer's Instagram. They are usually the ones who leak the real snippets.
- Follow the "Era" Logic: Artists rarely go backward. If Miley is in her "Endless Summer Vacation" era, she isn't going to circle back to a "Bangerz" style lyric from ten years ago just because a fan remembered it.
- Ignore the Countdowns: Unless there is a pre-save link, a date mentioned in a song is almost never a literal release date. It’s art, not a calendar invite.
- Look for the Trademarks: Fans often find new music by searching trademark databases for song titles. That is way more reliable than analyzing guest verses from 2013.
The lesson of "in about 3 years holla at me miley cyrus" is that pop music is a snapshot of a moment. In 2013, the idea of Miley and Mike WiLL dominating the world for the next decade seemed like a sure bet. By 2016, the world had moved on, and so had they. It remains a fascinating piece of trivia—a digital time capsule that reminds us how much we love to project our expectations onto the artists we follow.
Don't wait for the 3-year holla. Just enjoy the record for what it was: a high-energy, Jordan-obsessed anthem that defined a very specific, very loud moment in celebrity history.