Johannesburg Gets an Exclusive First Listen to Miley’s New Album ‘Bass Persuades’

Global pop icon Miley has officially released her highly-anticipated tenth studio album, ‘Bass Persuades’, available today across all major streaming platforms worldwide. To celebrate the release, Warner Music Africa brought together a select group of industry insiders, media personalities, content creators and fans for an exclusive pre-release listening experience in Johannesburg.

The intimate event took place at the iconic Roger Ballen Centre for Photography in Forest Town, transforming the renowned creative space into the perfect setting to experience Miley’s latest musical chapter from beginning to end. Guests were treated to a top-to-bottom listen of the album ahead of its global release, immersing themselves in the sound of a project that sees the Grammy Award-winning superstar embracing a fresh new era.

Released globally on 18 September, ‘Bass Persuades’ marks Miley’s 10th studio album. The 10-track album features collaborations with Model/Actriz on album highlight ‘Different Religion’ and Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow on ‘Neon Signs’, alongside production contributions from frequent collaborators including Kid Harpoon and Maxx Morando. 

The album’s title track, ‘Bass Persuades’, gave fans their first taste of the new era earlier this month, arriving with a visually striking music video directed by Mert Alas. Built around throbbing ’80s-inspired synths and a dance-pop pulse, the track finds Miley leaning into the transformative power of music and encouraging listeners to put down their phones, surrender to the moment and simply dance.

The star-studded event brought together some of South Africa's prominent media figures and creative minds, including television personalities Chanley Wong and Lee-Roy Wright, top fashion model Ponahalo Mojapelo, and radio personalities Mike Vee, Thabile TTO, and Joy Fakude, alongside a select group of influential digital content creators and dedicated fans.

For Warner Music Africa, the listening experience was an opportunity to bring the music closer to the people who help shape the cultural conversation around global artists and their releases.

“There’s something incredibly special about hearing an album for the first time together, especially a project as exciting and unexpected as Bass Persuades,” says Ayanda Mnguni, Senior Marketing Manager at Warner Music Africa. “We wanted to create an experience that allowed fans, creators and our industry partners to really immerse themselves in Miley’s new era before the album officially arrived. Johannesburg has such an incredible appetite for global pop culture, and bringing this group together to experience the album in such a unique space was the perfect way to celebrate the release.”

With its mix of dance-pop, electronic textures, ’80s-inspired sounds and more experimental moments, ‘Bass Persuades’ finds Miley once again refusing to stay in one musical lane.

‘Bass Persuades’ is now available to stream and download globally on all major digital music platforms here: https://miley.lnk.to/basspersuades.