Miley Cyrus: Kanye's my homie

Miley Cyrus and Kanye West are "homies".

The singer-and-actress joined the rapper in the studio to record a remix of his track Black Skinhead around the MTV Video Music Awards last month.

Since collaborating the pair have stayed in touch and it was thanks to his encouragement that she put on a memorable performance with Robin Thicke during the ceremony.

"He came in [before] and goes, 'There are not a lot of artists I believe in more than you right now.' The whole room went quiet. I was like, 'Yo - can you say that again?!' " she laughed to the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, still in shock. "I just kept repeating that over and over in my mind, and it made me not nervous.

"He said [in his text the next day], 'I still can't quit thinking about your performance'. Kanye is the sh*t. I kind of have a good relationship with him now. It's good to have someone you can call and be like, 'Yo, do you think I should wear this?' 'Do you think I should go in the studio with this guy?' 'Do you think this is cool?' That's what homies are supposed to do."

While Kanye is Miley's mentor, the 20-year-old singer also likes to help out her peers. In particular, she often gives advice to her friend Justin Bieber.

"I'm not much older than him, so I never want it to feel like I'm mentoring him," she admitted. "But I do mentor him in a way. Because I've been doing this sh*t for a long time, and I already transitioned, and I don't think he's quite done it yet."

She believes her pal's talents have gone unnoticed due to his erratic behaviour over the last year. Miley hopes Justin will find his feet and prove he is a serious performer before he misses his chance.

"He's trying really hard. People don't take him seriously, but he really can play the drums, he really can play guitar, he really can sing," she added. "I just don't want to see him f**k that up, to where people think he's Vanilla Ice. I tell him that."

One thing which the pair have in common is their collection of tattoos. Miley may be a fan of ink - with her most predominant dream catcher tattoo on the side her ribcage - but thinks some people go over the top with their choices.

Miley recalled the time she encountered actor Stephen Baldwin, who went out of his way to show his dedication to her Disney character Hannah Montana.

"People get tattoos of the most f**ked-up sh*t. Did you know Alec Baldwin has Hannah Montana's initials tattooed on him? No, wait - Stephen Baldwin," she mused. "He said he was my biggest fan, and I told him my biggest fans have tattoos. So he got hm tattooed on his shoulder."