Fort Minor
Fort Minor is a hip-hop project created by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. Its first album is The Rising Tied.
Music
Mike's goal for the project is to have fun with his friends, rather than to showcase the hottest names in underground and mainsteam hip-hop.
- "It's called Fort Minor, instead of my name because there are a bunch of other people involved in the project. But I only wanted to work with family and friends; people that I feel are really close to me and we see eye-to-eye." -- Mike Shinoda, BallerStatus.
Some contributors to the project are:
- Black Thought: the lead vocalist of Philadelphia hip-hoppers The Roots. Widely renound for their unique live performances, The Roots have been making music since the late '80s, and are still going strong to this day.
- Common: he was a highly influential figure in rap's underground during the '90s, keeping the sophisticated lyrical technique and flowing syncopations of jazz-rap alive.
- Kenna: Born in Ethiopia (but raised in both Cincinnati and Virginia Beach), alt-funk artist Kenna became captivated by the sounds of U2 and Stevie Wonder early on.
- Lupe Fiasco: Close your eyes and imagine a world filled with so many contradictions that its damn near impossible to tell left from right, up from down and right from wrong.
- John Legend: Neo-soul singer and pianist John Legend combined the raw fervor of contemporaries Cody ChesnuTT and the burning precision of D'Angelo.
- Styles of Beyond: he doesn't make your average, everyday rap songs. With the impending millennium staring us all in the face, Ryu and Takbir, the two incredible gifted MCs that make up the LA-based hip-hop group.
- Jay-Z: he has reigned over the New York rap scene throughout the late '90s and early 2000s and steadily built up the Roc-a-Fella Records dynasty in the process. The Brooklyn rapper made his splash debut in 1996 and cranked out album after album and hit after hit throughout the decade and into the next.
The Rising Tied
The Rising Tied is the first project from Fort Minor, the album will be released in November 22, 2005 through Machine Shop Recordings..
Recording the solo album late into 2004, and first words came in December, when he mentioned the album out of context in interviews. Aswell as the confirmed artists already on the bill for the album, Mike is rumoured to have met with Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Musique and more.
As well as producing the CD, Mike will play every instrument on all the tracks that make it into the final cut (minus the strings). An exclusive listening party of 5 of the impending tracks was held on April 13th 2005 with an audience of all the most credible online hip-hop press.
All of the music on The Rising Tied were composed, produced and mixed by Shinoda alone. Only two members of the Linkin Park band are involved with The Rising Tied; guitarist Brad Delson helped do the A&R work for the album and DJ Joe Hahn is set to feature on 1 song. The Rising Tied]] is set to be released on November 22, 2005 with the song "Believe Me" being the lead single. Mike has mentioned his plans to film a music video for a track off his album ("Petrified") before he goes on a US tour to promote the new album.
Confirmed Tracks
- Back Home
- Believe Me
- Get Me Gone
- Kenji
- Petrified
- Remember The Name
- Right Now (featuring Styles of Beyond and Black Thought)
- Where'd You Go
History
Fort Minor was first conceived in late 2004 after Projekt Revolution when Shinoda started experimenting with pure Hip-Hop sounds, which was something he had not done since before he started Linkin Park. Linkin Park's involvement in Collision Course along with encouragement from friends led Shinoda to begin work on the album. The first news of an album came in late 2004.
Releases
The Rising Tied is set to be released on November 22, 2005. The following are all the items which are currently known of:
- Remember The Name
- Petrified
- Where'd You Go
- Right Now (featuring Styles of Beyond and Black Thought)
- Believe Me
- Kenji
- High Road
- Get Me Gone
- Back Home
On August 20, 2005, a song from the album, named "Remember The Name" was leaked onto the internet. The song, which was planned to be the first single, received positive feedback from internet communities. The song "Petrified" was also 'leaked', though it was done officially by the Fort Minor team as part of a marketing strategy.
Shinoda has also mentioned a mixtape which will be released before this album. It is being mixed by the famed DJ Green Lantern and it will contain other Fort Minor materials.