Written by the artists alongside R. City and fellow producer Pierre "P-Nasty" Slaughter, it is set to a midtempo beat and lyrically references Air Jordan sneakers and recreational drug use.

[8] Sharing a similar sentiment, a writer for That Grape Juice stated that the artists "[gave] fans just what they want", adding that they "[went] along to make the jam the smash that it is.

[10] However, in a more mixed review, Danielle Cheesman of MSN opined that "the song sounds like everything else Mike WiLL's touched and turned to gold so it will be a smash but, much to Miley's chagrin, it won't be because of her", and criticized Cyrus' verses for "[stealing 2 Chainz's] whole flow.

[19] An accompanying music video for "23" was filmed at Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School in Brooklyn on August 26, 2013;[20] it was directed by Hannah Lux Davis.

[21] An advertisement for a casting call posted to Juicy J's Instagram account requested "edgy, rebellious, sexy, [and] hood types" to appear as extras in the clip, and further stated that individuals "must wear [their] favorite pair of Jordans".

Interspersed throughout are scenes of Cyrus wearing a bikini similar to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls basketball jersey; she is frequently shown smoking in the bathroom and writing on its mirrors with red lipstick.

[23] A school-wide pep rally later takes place, where Cyrus is gyrating against Mike Will Made It and notably wearing the foam finger used in her controversial performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards in August.

by Master P.[25] In a more critical review, Carl Williott of Idolator opined that the music video was "sort of like a massive hip-hop version of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video, with Air Jordans and Beats instead of anarchy symbols",[26] while Kayla Upadhyaya from The Michigan Daily called it a "pile of red and black vomit and a poorly edited mishmash of uninspired shots".

During the performance, Cyrus wore black-and-red Jordan 1s, a striped fishnet bikini and crotchless leather chaps with "Miley" scrawled down the side, through which she paid homage to Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" music video.