Noah Cyrus is going her own way. Her previous moments in the spotlight might have been following her sister Miley, but for this 18-year-old the time has come to carve her very own path. With her debut album NC:17 expected any day, collaborations with Jake Bugg, Labrinth and Matoma have introduced her vocals to the airwaves, while a string of big-shot gigs and well-thought-out videos have given a hint at the "darker" sort of pop we'll get to hear on her first record. "One Bit" is also probably stuck in your head right now.

While her music has put her in the spotlight, Noah uses her time there to champion causes close to her heart. In fact, she's actually been doing it for almost a decade. At just 13, she dedicated her time to stopping the horse-drawn carriages in New York's Central Park, but now focuses on marine life being held in captivity.

**What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since you released your own music? **

For me it has been about confidence. When I started putting it out, I had zero confidence. It’s just something that I hadn’t developed yet.

**How do you think growing up in a household where everyone worked in the music industry influenced your approach? **

When I was younger, I wasn’t really interested in it. I just wanted to ride my horses, and I just wanted to go to the stables every day. By the time I was 14, I realised I wanted to be an artist. I definitely grew up differently to most of my friends and that was a little bit of a struggle then. I wouldn’t want to change anything about the way I grew up even though it was a different situation. I still love the way I grew up and I had an amazing childhood with a really supportive family.

© Getty Images

**You’ve been involved with activism for a long time, what is the cause that you’re supporting now and why? ** Right now, I’m teamed up with PETA. We have a campaign about Sea World, and how the animals are held in captivity. Before that I was doing a campaign about getting elephants out of circuses and I did a different campaign with PETA about dissecting in schools. A lot of students don’t know that they can ask to not dissect and they can ask to be given a diagram instead.

**Just like Miley has the Happy Hippy Foundation, would you ever like to start your own foundation or your own charity? **

I think if I was to do my own foundation, I would do something for dogs. I think adoption is a huge thing, there are a lot of animals that are in shelters. Kill shelters are terrible, so I would probably want to help rescue the dogs.

Read more: We Can't Decide Which Pair Of These New-Season Trainers Tops Our Wishlist

**You get compared to Miley quite a lot, but who would you compare your musical sound to? ** I don’t know if I would compare my sound to anyone because I like to think that my music is my music. The thing about comparison is that we’re all in the same genre, almost. I just think my pop music is a little different in a sense that it has a little bit of a darker feel to it. I think what’s different about mine is that you don’t see people walking through graveyards very often. That was my theme for my last video - it made me cry. I am a little darker, and I love ballads and I love heartbreak songs, but I don’t know if I would compare myself to another artist. I definitely have inspirations from Lady Gaga, because I love her, I am a huge fan.

© Getty Images

**How would you describe your style? **

I like baggy clothes, or like an oversized hoodie with over-the-knee boots. Anything like that. I think it’s a little more of like a street-inspired style for me. For stage, I take it a little bit up a level. That’s when I am most comfortable and for me it’s all about being comfortable with yourself. I think for anybody, not even when you’re on stage, it’s good to dress in the way that you’re comfortable, it definitely boosts your confidence. If you’re worried about what you look like the whole time, you’re not going to be able to be confident.

**What is the best advice that you’ve been given? **

My mom gives great advice, and so does my dad. Something floated around from my dad’s side of the family is just to stand still. It just means that when everything is so hectic in your life and you don’t know what to do, just stand still and wait for your heart to tell you what to do, and it will take you to the right place. So, to stand still and take a breath in. It really does help me in certain situations. My dad and I have got it tattooed on our arms.

Read more: The 10 Best Girl Power Moments From The Golden Globes

**You’re now a role model to young women. How does it feel to have that title? **

It’s amazing. There are so many young women in their early teens struggling with confidence, and at that time, I had a hard time with the way I looked and the way I felt about my body. So, for me, I want to help them with that, and I want to help them with body confidence. I want to help other women grow as a person because that’s what I am doing too. I kind of had to grow up a little faster and I feel like I can use that for good and help people a little earlier on with confidence.

Your debut album is incredibly personal. How does it make you feel that people are getting such a truthful insight into your own experiences and your life? [/b]

It’s incredible that all these people are connecting with it and perhaps are going through the same things. So, if my music can help somebody get through a break-up because I am going through one of those of my own. I want to help them because I know what that feeling is like when you can’t breathe because you’re missing somebody. I know that feeling far too well. And I just hope that my music is helping somebody get through that feeling.

**What has been the biggest influence on your album, NC-17? Has it been your personal heartbreak? **

Yes, I think it’s because I was writing it for such a long time. I experienced my very first break-up on the first night of the Katy Perry tour when I was still working on the album. That was really hard for me and it still is hard for me, and I am still going through it. I just feel a lot stronger in a way now because I made it through the whole tour heartbroken, while also feeling ‘I am not going to make it. I am going to die from this feeling’, and I didn’t. So, honestly, I feel like I’ve grown as a person a lot from that experience and I am trying to use the situation for good.