Miley Cyrus’ Brother Is a One-Hit Wonder
Miley Cyrus is one of the biggest celebrities of the current century, but her brother, Trace Cyrus, is not. However, he still managed to notch a hit. You might not remember the song if you just read its title, but if you listen to it, its chorus will bring you back to the 2000s.
2 brothers of ‘Hannah Montana’ cast members made an emo hit
One of the defining musical trends of the 2000s was emo music. As the decade progressed, some bands in that scene weren’t too interested in being sad. While they took inspiration from the sound of earlier emo acts, they tended to write songs with a more positive outlook.
Enter Metro Station. The band’s members include Trace and Mason Musso, the brother of Hannah Montana star Mitchel Musso. The band didn’t inspire the same fandom as other emo groups like Panic! at the Disco or Fall Out Boy. However, for one brief moment, they ruled the world.
Specifically, Metro Station ruled the world because of their hit “Shake It.” The tune combined elements of early 2000s rock and the dance-pop that would come to dominate the airwaves between 2009 and 2013. Furthermore, it has one of the catchiest choruses you’ll ever hear. “Shake It” is not exactly obscene, but if you were in grade school when it came out, the tune felt deliciously provocative.
What separates Miley Cyrus from her brother musically
So why did Miley become an icon while Trace is more like a living trivia question? For starters, Trace did not have the Disney machine behind him. Maybe if he had his own sitcom, we’d all have heard his name.
Furthermore, Miley changes with the times. Her discography is pretty eclectic. It includes such disparate songs as “Wrecking Ball,” “Can’t Be Tamed,” “Malibu,” and “Party in the U.S.A.” Meanwhile, Metro Sation seems to have stuck with the pop-rock style that made them famous. That’s fine and all, but the world just isn’t as interested in pop-rock as it was during the presidency of George W. Bush.
Trace Cyrus’ relationship to Miley Cyrus didn’t help ‘Shake It’ off
During a 2008 interview with Seventeen, Trace said MySpace helped “Shake It” to take off. “It gave us a way to build a fan base without having to put money behind it,” he said. “It’s free publicity, and all you’ve got to do is make good songs and kids will tell their friends. We were touring before we had an album. Kids were coming to our shows and knowing the words to our songs. MySpace has helped us tons. We owe a lot to it.”
Mason had similar feelings. “[Getting your music heard is] just more attainable than it has been in the past,” he said. “Kids are able to start a band on MySpace and gain fans immediately — just get their music out there, get their music to all the ears they possibly can.”
Mason noted the tune inspired many fan videos. “I think Blake [Healy, synth-bass] was the first one to ever put up a ‘Shake It’ fan video,” he recalled. “He really enjoyed it, and ever since then it’s just been this weird phenomenon. All these kids just keep making ‘Shake It’ videos and we keep putting them up on our MySpace [page].”
Trace isn’t a huge star like Miley — but he still gave us one of the most popular emo songs of all time.
