Fort Minor

Fort Minor is a hip hop side-project of Mike Shinoda, who is better known as being a member of the American rock band Linkin Park. Shinoda's debut solo album as Fort Minor, The Rising Tied was released November 22, 2005.

History

Fort Minor is a the side project of Mike Shinoda. Fort Minor is what Shinoda calls himself when he collaborates with Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu), and Takbir Bashir (Tak) who together form the underground hip hop group Styles of Beyond.

Around late 2004, Mike Shinoda began recording songs for this side project.[1] We Major was a mixtape by Shinoda and DJ Green Lantern to promote his upcoming studio album. The Rising Tied, the debut album of Fort Minor, was released in November 2005. Robert Hales directed its first video "Petrified", which was released the previous month.[2] Jay-Z, who had previously collaborated with Linkin Park on the 2004 album Collision Course, was the executive producer for The Rising Tied.[3] Shinoda told Corey Moss of MTV News that he imposed on himself a requirement to play all the instruments and write all the lyrics to the album except for the strings, percussion, or choir parts.[4] "Where'd You Go", its first single, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; following was "Remember the Name" at No. 66.[5] Another track, "Kenji" describes the experiences of Shinoda's family during the Japanese American internment of World War II.[6]

Due to the success of "Where'd You Go", on the week of April 26, 2006, sales of The Rising Tied increased by 45 percent, and the album chart position went up 89 positions to No. 104 on the Billboard 200."[7] Where'd You Go" was awarded Ringtone of the Year at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. In mid August 2006 Fort Minor performed at the Summer Sonic 2006 alongside Linkin Park.[8]

The third track on the album, "Right Now", is featured in the trailer of The Family That Preys by Tyler Perry.

The song Remember The Name was used in promotional TV trailers for the 2006 movie Gridiron Gang, as well as the trailer for the remake of the movie The Karate Kid (2010).

In November 2006, Fort Minor released a video for "Remember the Name." Shinoda has stated he felt the video was a nice wrap-up for Fort Minor. Also in November, Shinoda stated that Fort Minor is on hiatus, because of his dedication to Linkin Park.

In 2006, Holly Brook released an exclusive version of "Where'd You Go" to radio stations, made completely by herself. Mike does not appear on this version, which can be heard by request on various American radio stations.[9]

In the Billboard One-hit Wonders of the 2000s, Fort Minor (along with Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga) were listed at #19, due to the success of "Where'd You Go" (since it was Fort Minor's only single that reached the top 25).[10]