Carson Daly Show

December 19, 2005

Chat with Chester on Wednesday
posted by Jas, 12/19/05
From LPU Newsletter: LPU 5.0 has begun and Linkin Park is busy writing music again for their next album. Look forward to our second official chat of LPU 5.0 with the one and only Chester Bennington. So make sure you mark the date on your calendar, Wednesday, December 21 at 12PM PST. You'll get a chance to chat with Chester live about his music, his work, and what Linkin Park has been up to these past few months. Prepare your questions and save the date! To visit the chat, log into LP Underground, click Community, then Enter the Chat.

Video Download: Mpg of Carson Daly & 7th Avenue Drop
posted by Jas, 12/19/05
Chesterchaz has uploaded excellent quality of Fort Minor's performance on Carson Daly and 7th Avenue Drop, all files are in mpg format and at rapidshare server. I will post an update when I've uploaded them to megaupload. Thanks Chesterchaz.

7th Avenue Drop

Carson Daly Show

FM Australasia tour
posted by Jas, 12/19/05
Chad reports that according to Spytech Records Fort Minor will tour Asia and Australia in the coming months with a surprise guest.

Review of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/19/05
Reviews of Fort Minor's The Rising Tied

From Mercury News
Fort Minor: ``The Rising Tied'' (Warner Bros.): With big names like Jay-Z, Common and John Legend in the credits, it was set to be a winner. You can tell the deeply personal album was a labor of love for Linkin Park co-founder Mike Shinoda. If you don't buy this album, you have to at least download the track ```Kenji'' about the Japanese-American internment experience.

From Ballerstatus
All in all, The Rising Tied is an exploration through the mind of Mike Shinoda -- a man comprised of true musical talent and an undeniable hip-hop spirit. His greatest strengths are his unlimited subject matter, which adds to his expressiveness and creativity. The core fans of LP are going to eat this up, and those who wanted to check out what Shinoda put his name on, could be very surprised at how well he can put together a hip-hop album. Mike Shinoda's creativity and Jay-Z's direction, as he serves as executive producer on the effort, make for very good hip-hop music and is evident throughout The Rising Tied. It is definitely a breath of fresh air, which has been much needed in hip-hop for sometime. -- Full review

December 18, 2005

Video Download: Fort Minor on Carson Daly
posted by Jas, 12/18/05
My friend Serein has captured Fort Minor performing 'Petrified' on the Carson Daly show. Thanks Serein. Download at megaupload or rapidshare

Rapper gets personal in major solo album
posted by Jas, 12/18/05
The New Paper did an email interview with Mike

One song on Mike Shinoda's new album, The Rising Tied, hits close to home. The song, Kenji, is about the rocker-rapper's family in intern camps during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US put Japanese-Americans (and some other Asian-Americans) in secluded camps. This was a harrowing experience for the family of 28-year-old Shinoda. The half-Japanese, half-Caucasian, told The New Paper in an e-mail interview.

'My dad was 3 years old, and had 12 brothers and sisters. My oldest aunt was in her 20s, and had four kids. Her husband died in camp. They stayed there, captive, for the duration of the war,' he said. 'Once they were released, they returned to vandalise homes amid racial tension. That's what the song Kenji is about.' Shinoda wanted to draw on personal experiences for his first solo, hip-hop side project, Fort Minor - away from his regular duties as a rapper with rock group Linkin Park.

Another song, Where'd You Go, is about missing someone who is always on the road, away from home and family. 'A lot of people do songs about being on the road or on tour. I wanted to do a song from the opposite side, the other perspective,' said Shinoda, who is married. 'Where'd You Go makes my wife cry every time she hears it.' He said the song was to 'let my family at home know that I know how they feel'.

Shinoda's personal life stories are enveloped in his signature biting raps and hard-pumping rock-rap music, not unlike Linkin Park's style. But he wanted Fort Minor to be distinct as well. 'The goal was to get back to my roots. Before Linkin Park, I pretty much made only hip-hop. I've learnt so much about production, song-writing and people in the last few years.' His earlier influences were rap artistes like Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions.

Although Shinoda is already well-known, thanks to Linkin Park's string of awards and hit singles, he said he was conscious not to make use of his recognisable name. 'I wanted to name the album rather than have my name on the cover, because I want people to focus on the music, not on me,' he said. 'Fort represents the more aggressive side of the music. Minor can mean a few things. If you're talking about music theory, minor key is darker.'

Shinoda added that the rest of Linkin Park - Chester Bennington, Joseph Hahn, Dave Farrell, Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson - have been supportive of Fort Minor. Frontman Bennington is also working on his own solo release. He said: 'I told them I wouldn't do it if they didn't want me to. Obviously, since it's in stores right now, they approve!' However, he assured fans that the rise of Fort Minor will not mean the demise of Linkin Park. He added: 'Will Mike Shinoda be on the next Linkin Park album, the answer is yes!'

Hard Rock Heavyweights Visit 'Underworld'
posted by Jas, 12/18/05
Billboard has a short blurb on the Underworld soundtrack which will include a track from Chester

The soundtrack for "Underworld: Evolution" will boast a host of exclusive selections, including the first solo recording from Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington and a song from the Tool-affiliated side project Puscifer, which features vocalist Maynard James Keenan and former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Danny Lohner.

Other cuts featured the soundtrack, due Jan. 10 via Lakeshore, include Meat Beat Manifesto's "Suicide" (which sports the Jack Dangers-led group's first use of vocals in six years), Chris Vrenna's "Bloodstone" remix of Slipnkot's "Vermillion Pt. 2" and Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key's reworking of Aiden's "The Last Sunrise." Underworld: Evolution" is rounded out by contributions from My Chemical Romance, Cradle Of Filth, Lacuna Coil, the Alkaline Trio and Senses Fail. The film, which stars Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, opens Jan. 20 in U.S. theaters.

Review of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/18/05
A review of Fort Minor's The Rising Tied from Stuff

Successful white rappers are in very short supply. The list begins with Eminem, includes the Beastie Boys, and ends with Vanilla Ice. And, er, that's about it. So it's an incredibly bold move for Linkin Park front man Mike Shinoda to leave his nu-metal act behind him to make a straight-up hip-hop album. But The Rising Tied comes with true hip-hop cred, with Jay-Z listed as executive producer and plenty of quality guests on board. And on first listen, it sounds great. Shinoda's production is impeccable, with crisp, clean beats layered with samples to create a moody and atmospheric listening experience.

First single Remember the Name is the perfect example, a dense beat working around a string-laden melody and memorable chorus. Elsewhere, In Stereo is a stunner that would make the Neptunes jealous, and even manages to knock Jay-Z off his chair. That's no mean feat. But good beats aren't enough. Without Linkin Park's triple-guitar attack hiding his vocal deficiencies, Shinoda's rhyme skills range from bad to, well, truly awful. "How you doing y'all, My name's Mike, I'm fluent with the new shit, I'm doing it all night," anyone?

Perhaps Shinoda wouldn't look so bad if he didn't have so many guest stars on the album. All Common, Black Thought and John Legend manage to do is prove that Shinoda should have stayed behind the mixing desk instead of hogging the mic for himself. Next time, buddy, leave the rapping to the experts. Two stars

December 15, 2005

Video Download: 2004 Rock Am Ring Festival
posted by Jas, 12/15/05
Just to let everybody know that I've uploaded again some of the videos (mpg format) from the 2004 Rock Am Ring Festival, I will post another note when I upload the rest. Go here to download

Fort Minor in Blender magazine
posted by Jas, 12/15/05
Fort Minor's Myspace blog has been updated with scans from January issue of Blender magazine

December 13, 2005

Linkin Park nominated for Radio Music Awards
posted by Jas, 12/13/05
Linkin Park has been nominated for Radio Music Awards for Artist of the Year/ Alternative and Active Rock Radio. Results will be announced live from Las Vegas on December 19 at 9 pm/8pm central on NBC. Full list of nominees.

Fort Minor tour update
posted by Jas, 12/13/05
MTV reports that in Fort Minor's upcoming US tour, Mike will be backed by a 10-piece band and will perform some Linkin Park tracks "Fort Minor style". A reminder that public onsale tickets starts this weekend but if you are a Fort Militia or LPU members, presale tickets on Ticketmaster starts tomorrow, Dec 10 at 10 am ET. More details on tour dates and ticket sales here

FM tour date change from FortMinor.com: Please note the changes in the New York and Philadelphia tour dates. The New York show has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb 6, and the Philadelphia show date is to be determined due to scheduling conflicts. The Philadelphia presale has also been moved to Thursday 12/15 at 10am EST.

Mike to host 'Hostile Takeover'
posted by Jas, 12/13/05
Blabbermouth reports that Mike along with Fort Minor are on the list of guest hosts of "Hostile Takeover", a new program on Sirius Faction Satellite Radio which will be launched on December 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be heard every Friday at that time, exclusively on Sirius' Faction channel 28. More details

Joe at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas
posted by Jas, 12/13/05
Joe was at day one of the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2005 on Dec 10.

'Numb/Encore' in Miami Vice trailer
posted by Jas, 12/13/05
LP/Jay-Z's 'Numb/Encore' is being used for the Miami Vice teaser trailer, click here or here to watch the trailer. Thanks to Rene and Ethan for the tip.

December 12, 2005

Fort Minor on Jimmy Kimmel Live
posted by Jas, 12/12/05
Anton sent in the direct links to download the flash video of Fort Minor performing 'Believe Me' and 'Petrified'. Flash player required to watch the video. I will convert them to windows format and post an update when they are available.

Chester solo album update
posted by Jas, 12/12/05
Julien K posted this message on his Myspace blog. Thanks to LPA for the tip.

As many of you already know, we (JK) have also completed a solo record with Chester Bennington. We are calling the band Snow White Tan, until we decide to not call it that. As of now, the band consists of Amir, Chester and I. Because of Chester's Linkin Park obligations, we have no information regarding WHEN the record will be released- but it is done, and it will come out. We (JK) are planning on doing some un-announced dates in Southern California after the first of the year.

Review of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/12/05
A review of Fort Minor's The Rising Tied from Scripts Howard News Service

The rock/rap genre seemed out of gas when Linkin Park refueled it half a decade ago with its breakout debut, "Hybrid Theory." So perhaps the anachronistic sound of Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied" won't be a fatal condition for the debut release from the hip-hop side project of Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda. But it sure sounds dead on arrival.

Still, Shinoda is a smidge closer to Eminem than he is to Vanilla Ice, making up for his nondescript vocals and flow with a fair amount of lyrical depth and variety. And although he's practically a one-man show with the sparse and unimaginative instrumentation on "The Rising Tied," he flushes out the sound with a scattering of guest vocalists and a boost from executive producer Jay-Z, who collaborated with Linkin Park for the 2004 EP "Collision Course."

The Fort Minor debut is hardly inspiring, yet it's partly redeemed by a handful of diverting cuts such as the rumbling "Petrified," which playfully rides a House of Pain/videogame vibe, and "Believe Me," the lone track that approximates a rock/rap style, and does so with a swerving, organic groove. Rating (five possible): 2-1/2

Fort Minor on Fuse TV
posted by Jas, 12/12/05
Fort Minor's live performance on Fuse TV's 7th Avenue Drop is now online, click here to watch video clips of them performing RTN, Petrified and Believe Me in various formats.

December 9, 2005

Fort Minor on Jimmy Kimmel Live
posted by Jas, 12/09/05
Click here to watch Fort Minor performing 'Petrified' on the Jimmy Kimmel Live, will grab the video and put it up for download later.

Fort Minor Tour
posted by Jas, 12/09/05
From FM Newsletter: Fort Minor featuring Mike Shinoda and Styles of Beyond is going on tour in the U.S. and Canada starting next month with Little Brother. All tour dates go on sale either next Thursday (12/16) or Friday (12/17), click here for tour dates and visit Ticketmaster to make your purchase starting that day.

Review of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/01/05
A review of Fort Minor's The Rising Tied from Orlando Sentinel

Linkin Park's hip-hop element loses the metal on The Rising Tied, the debut album for Mike Shinoda's side project Fort Minor. Shinoda's name is in the big type, but it's far from a solo release. Along with production by Jay-Z, these 16 tracks employ the services of an all-star list of collaborators including Common, John Legend, funk hybrid Kenna and the Roots' Black Thought.

There's a touch of the self-indulgent, ego-driven formula that seems inseparable from most mainstream rap, especially in the call for respect for Linkin Park in "Get Me Gone.'' Mostly, however, Shinoda's personal excursion is a nice departure from both rap cliches and the angst-ridden themes of his regular band. Shinoda played most of the instruments and created the lion's share of the samples and breakbeats. The result is a collection of songs that sound warm and human, whether it's the piano and tambourines in "High Road'' or a minimalist combination of bass and keys in "Petrified.''

Lyrically, Shinoda's approach works because he goes beyond the obvious. "Feel Like Home'' is an ode to Los Angeles that calls attention to humanity in its hardened street scenes. "These days are dark and the nights are cold, people acting like they lost their souls,'' he says. "Everywhere I go I see another person like me, trying to make it all feel like home.''

The most impressive testament to Shinoda's scope is "Kenji,'' a song about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II that features snippets of dialogue from Shinoda's father and aunt, both interred in the camps. The echoes of that memory somehow resonate in the context of current world conflicts, which is quite a feat indeed. 4 stars out of 5

December 8, 2005

Audio Download: Mike on Loveline
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
Darth Yak has captured Mike on Loveline, download part one and part two (at megaupload). Go here to download files at rapidshare. Parents please note that the show contains adult content.

Linkin Park/Jay Z nominated for Grammy
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
Nominations for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards have been announced and Linkin Park & Jay-Z have been nominated in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category for Numb/Encore. Woo!! Hoo!!! Congratulations guys! Click here for full list of nominee. The Grammy Awards will be telecast live on CBS on February 8, 2006 at 8 pm ET/PT.

Billboard Music Awards Pictures
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
Pics of Mike, Brad and Rob at the Billboard Music Awards

more pictures here and here

Mike at the Flaunt Anniversary Party
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
Mike was at the Flaunt Magazine 7th Annual Anniversary Party held on December 2 in Los Angeles, California. Thanks to Colleen for the tip

Fort Minor on TRL Germany
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
NiLuMO58 reports that MTV Germany has posted these pictures of Fort Minor's appearance on MTV TRL last month.

for some concert pics of Fort Minor in Hamburg, Germany click here

An interview with Mike
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
antiMusic has posted their interview with Mike, click here to read

LP on Billboard Awards report
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
First of all my thousand apologies for not able to record this, I completely forgot about it and thus didn't alert my friend to tape it for me and make a clip so if anyone caught it and has made a clip please upload it to rapidshare or megaupload and send me the download link. And if anyone has mp3 of Mike on Loveline please let me know too. For those who didn't catch the show, Mike, Brad and Rob together with Carmen Elektra presented an award at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards, aired live on FOX from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 6. You can read a report from Village Voice, Billboard, MTV Asia, BBC and E! Online. I'll post the pictures later.

Chester on "Underworld: Evolution" soundtrack
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
Blabbermouth reports that Slipknot, Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan and Chester Bennington have contributed tracks to the "Underworld: Evolution" soundtrack which will be released on January 10. "Underworld: Evolution", a sequel to 2003 "Underworld" starring Kate Beckinsale, opens in theatres on January 20

Lady Sovereign to work with Mike Shinoda
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
LA City Beat has an article about U.K. MC Lady Sovereign who said that she's going to New York to work in the studio with Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Mike Shinoda.

Reviews of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/08/05
Reviews of Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied" album from Baltimore Sun, NY Times, The Northener Online

December 7, 2005

Linkin Park, label resolving public spat
posted by Jas, 12/07/05
Reuters/Billboard reports that Linkin Park and Warner Bros. have kissed and made up, Brad said LP is now focused on putting out a new record next year and will be produced by none other than Mike Shinoda.

Months after Linkin Park took its contract renegotiation dispute with Warner Bros. public, the band and the label are close to resolving the matter without any further ugliness. "We're resolving our differences and we're looking forward to putting out a record next year," guitarist Brad Delson told Billboard.com. "We're all focused on the creative process right now."

In May, Linkin Park issued a statement announcing the band was halting plans for a spring 2006 album, and expressed concerns about aggressive cost cutting at the label's Warner Music Group parent ahead of its IPO. Without revealing details of its business arrangements, MC/vocalist Mike Shinoda said the band has "been working on new stuff for at least a month."

The new album will sport Shinoda's first production credit on one of the band's releases. "Of all the processes of Linkin Park, the guys all have their own special talents and the places they take charge and shine," he said. "One of my favorite places to be is in the studio." The as-yet-untitled set will be the follow-up to 2003's "Meteora," which has sold 5.14 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set featured the single "Breaking the Habit," which topped Billboard's Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock airplay charts and reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Shinoda said it was way too early to describe the direction of the new material, but one general idea has already taken hold. "Rap/rock and new metal have been used to describe Linkin Park," he said. "But if you think of a song like 'Breaking the Habit,' it would be kind of difficult to describe that as rap/rock. It's not very accurate. On the next record, we're looking to break away from that label even further than we have in the past."

And while Shinoda said Linkin Park has "hundreds" of unreleased songs that could potentially be revisited, "We tend to not do that, simply because, the band is always evolving. We like the momentum created by coming up with new songs." While work continues, Shinoda is plotting a late January/early February tour for his hip-hop side project Fort Minor, which just issued its debut album, "The Rising Tied," on Linkin Park's Machine Shop imprint. The set debuted last week at No. 60 on The Billboard 200.

"(Linkin Park) DJ Joseph Hahn came to our show in Los Angeles," Shinoda says. "He didn't even say hi. He didn't even say great show. He just walked straight up to me and said, 'Listen to me. When you go on stage with your side project, it can't be this good. You're not allowed. It's not fair.' He was obviously joking, but we do take a lot of pride in our show and I hope people can see it soon."

"The Seed" mention
posted by Jas, 12/07/05
Mr. Hahn upcoming short film gets a mention on MTV

While his Linkin Park bandmates Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington have been working on solo projects, DJ Joseph Hahn has been directing a short film called "The Seed," which he plans to debut at the Sundance Film Festival. "It's about a homeless schizophrenic war veteran that's going crazy on the streets of Los Angeles," Hahn said. "He's trying to control the dementia in his mind. It's starring Will Yun Lee. He's a good friend and a good actor." ...

Fort Minor on Motoalert update
posted by Jas, 12/07/05
MTV Asia Motoalert will have 5 Things You Need to Know About Fort Minor and Fort Minor Makes An Album through out the month. Click on country for date an time... Singapore & Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines. Thanks to Weijie for the heads up.

Mike on Loveline
posted by Jas, 12/07/05
From FM Newsletter: Mike Shinoda will be co-hosting Loveline with Dr. Drew TONIGHT, Dec. 7th at 10pm - 12am. Check your local radio listings for Loveline on Dec 7th to catch the show and watch out for Fort Minor songs on air. Don't forget to start spreading the word and tell everyone you know how they can listen in to Fort Minor and get advice from Mike! To call and get some advice from Mike, call 1-800-LOVE-191.

December 2, 2005

Fort Minor on Motoalert
posted by Jas, 12/02/05
Clara reports that Fort Minor is MTV Asia Motoalert's Artist of the Month. There will be lots of FM for the whole month of December, there's no specific air time for the show, it comes on at random times every day, usually on the hour.

Mike on MTV2 tomorrow
posted by Jas, 12/02/05
Catch Mike co-hosting MTV2's Dew Circuit Breakout Finalist Preview with VJ Jim Shearer on Saturday, December 3 at 1pm ET/10am PT

From Linkin Park to Fort Minor
posted by Jas, 12/02/05
Janneke has sent a scan and a translation of an interview with Mike from December issue of Hitkrant magazine (the Netherlands)

Mike Shinoda (first one on the picture), isn't he of Linkin Park? But what is he doing with Fort Minor if he is the same one? Easy, it's his solo project! Luckily for Mike is that 'Believe Me' is doing great as a first single, but what if he really had to choose between Linkin Park and Fort Minor?

So, Linkin Park or Fort Minor?
I don't really know... Of course I'm doing my solo-project without the rest of the group, but that doesn't mean that it is over for the band. We're going to work on a new album soon, but for now Fort Minor is my first priority. What I most like about Fort Minor is that I have all the control over everything. Finally, I can do what I want. Please understand what I mean, I still think the other guys of Linkin Park are awesome, but working on my own for once is okay! Besides all the stress of course.

To make this album, you really did everything by yourself, what do you like most: writing music or producing?
Tough question... I actually don't know if I have the right answer for this. Producing is technical and creative, but writing a song is exactly the same. The main point of both aspects is getting a good song. But producing might be more fun... If you wrote a song, you already know what the melody is going to sound like, but then you still don't know which instrument you're going to play it with. It could be a guitar or a violin. So producing?

You collaborated with many other artists, for example John Legend and Jay-Z. How did you end up with them?
I didn't thought of which artist I had to work with before I started, it was all one big coïncidence. John just really good for this particular song so I asked him to help me out. I also only worked with people I already knew, I don't have to have big names on my album to get the selling rates higher, that's just not how I am... Jay-Z didn't write anything for this album, but he did help me to find another way to listen to the songs and to help me make the songs even better.

Linkin Park is more of a rock band, while Fort Minor is more hip-hop. Which do you prefer? Hip-Hop or rock?
I don't think I'll be able to choose! I always had a very wide interest for many kinds of music, but hip-hop is something I used to like when I was little... In the past ten years is has been all sorts of music that I liked, but before it was only hip-hop.

Before you had your breakthrough, you studied at art school. Which do you prefer, music or art?
You know that there is only a small difference between those two? Maybe because I work a lot with a lot of different people. At art school, I always had to show my work to the whole class and they would give me comments. Some things could have been better, but most of it was great. With writing music it is exactly the same.

Linkin Park Rapper Knows Solo Project's Name Could Affect Sales
posted by Jas, 12/01/05
Launch Yahoo has an article about Fort Minor's debut on the Billboard chart.

The Rising Tied, the first album by Fort Minor -- the solo project of Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda -- debuted at Number 67 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 28,000 copies in its first week. That's a much more modest showing than Shinoda is used to with Linkin Park, and he admitted it might have something to do with using the Fort Minor name rather than his own.

"Some people have asked me about why, why did I name the project Fort Minor instead of just going out there and saying this is an album by Mike Shinoda?" Shinoda said. "It's because I do appreciate my privacy and I make music because I love to make music. I don't make music for the celebrity of it. By putting a name on the album and putting, you know, artwork on the cover instead of my picture, I thought that that hopefully will put the attention on the music a little more." The Rising Tied was executive-produced by rapper Jay-Z and features guest appearances by rappers Common and Black Thought and singers John Legend and Kenna, as well as Linkin Park DJ Joe Hahn.

"Petrified" is the first single from the project. Linkin Park has started recording their third studio album, which will be their first studio release since 2003's 10-times platinum Meteora.

Reviews of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/01/05
Veronica has typed up a review of Fort Minor's The Rising Tied from Hit magazine that comes with Australia's The Herald Sun

Mike Shinoda scores points for even daring to drop a hip hop album while his bread and butter, rock hybrid heavyweights Linkin Park, take a breather. But more than just proving the kid has guts, with Fort Minor the MC proves himself a credible, multi-talented force. The Rising Tied is consistently gripping and surprisingly fun, whether pile-driving concrete with the smart alec Petrified, or provoking thought with the deep Right Now and Kenji. Quality controlled by Jay-Z and featuring guest spots from John Legend and the Root's Black Thought, Fort Minor is nevertheless a Shinoda case, and there's no doubting he has skills.
The verdict:****(excellent)
In a word: smart

December 1, 2005

Happy Birthday Brad
posted by Jas, 12/01/05
Hey! it's Brad's birthday today! Happy Birthday Big B, is it December already? how time flies.

Fort Minor on the Billboard chart
posted by Jas, 12/01/05
MTV reports that Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied" album debuts at #60 on the Billboard charts this week

Reviews of The Rising Tied
posted by Jas, 12/01/05
Reviews of Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied" album from various sources

From Relish Now
Song to download: "Kenji"
Linkin Park, an alternative metal band, has been making waves for years with its mix of hard-charging rock and head-banging hip-hop. Now, Mike Shinoda, the MC for the group, steps into the spotlight with his solo side project, Fort Minor, and a new CD, The Rising Tied. This is an assured effort by Shinoda, energized by the production of Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z. Boasting appearances by Black Thought, John Legend and Common, the CD is a pulse-pounding sonic experience. Underneath all that is an especially personal record. On "Kenji," he dips into his Japanese ancestry, powerfully exploring the internment of Japanese people during World War II. "Cigarettes" is about his frustrations with mainstream rap music, and "Right Now," featuring Black Thought and Styles of Beyond, is the rare concept single that works. The CD does drag in places, but Shinoda's energy and Jay-Z's polished production save The Rising Tied, making this one of the most innovative hip-hop albums to come out this year.