Fort Minor

Fort Minor is a hip hop-based side-project of Mike Shinoda, who is better known as the rapper, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and producer of the American rock band Linkin Park. Shinoda's debut solo album as Fort Minor, The Rising Tied, was released on November 22, 2005. The album's fourth single, "Where'd You Go", propelled Fort Minor to stardom, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1]

History

Formation and The Rising Tied (2004–06)

Fort Minor is a side project of Mike Shinoda. Shinoda uses the name Fort Minor for his collaborations with Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), who themselves form the underground hip hop group Styles of Beyond.

Shinoda began recording songs for this side project following the release of Collision Course in November 2004.^[2] Fort Minor: 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.^[3] Jay-Z, who had previously collaborated with Linkin Park on the 2004 album Collision Course, was the executive producer for The Rising Tied.^[4] 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.^[5] "Where'd You Go", its fourth single, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while second single, "Remember the Name", reached at No. 66.^[6] Another track, "Kenji" describes the experiences of a Japanese-American family during the Japanese American internment of World War II.^[7]

Due to the success of "Where'd You Go" during 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."^[8] 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.^[9]

The third track on the album, "Right Now", is featured in the trailer of The Family That Preys by Tyler Perry.^[10]

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) and an episode in the second season of TV show Numb3rs.

"Indefinite hiatus" (2006–15)

In November 2006, Fort Minor released a video for "Where'd You Go." Shinoda has stated he felt the video was a nice wrap-up for Fort Minor.^[10] Also in November, Shinoda stated that Fort Minor is currently on hiatus, because of his dedication to Linkin Park.

In 2006, Skylar Grey released an exclusive version of "Where'd You Go" to radio stations, made completely by herself. Mike does not appear on this version.^[11]

In the Billboard One-hit Wonders of the 2000s, Fort Minor (along with Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga) were listed at No. 19, due to the success of "Where'd You Go" (since it was Fort Minor's only single that reached the top 25).^[12] In an LPU Chat in early 2012, Mike Shinoda said there is a possibility for a new Fort Minor album after Linkin Park's sixth studio album, which was planned for release in 2014. In October 2013, on the Nick Catchdubs remix of Linkin Park's "Skin to Bone", Ryu from Styles of Beyond stated that Fort Minor's mission isn't over, hinting at a second studio album.

Return and new single (2015–present)

In March 2015, Shinoda created a new Twitter page for the group and updated all Fort Minor social networking sites with images of black, hinting at a new upcoming announcement. Many fans have experimented with these images using Photoshop, they have realized by changing the levels of contrast and by trying several different filters that it results in several different interesting images.^[13]

In May 2015, with Altwire, Shinoda revealed that if anything about Fort Minor were to be announced, you will first find it on his personal social media accounts.

In June 2015, Shinoda Posted on the Official Fort Minor Instagram with the word "Hello" on it. He also Tweeted out of the Official Twitter. Fort Minor is also scheduled to appear as the musical guest on the TBS late-night talk show Conan on Monday, June 22.^[14]

On June 21, 2015, Shinoda officially confirmed Fort Minor's return with a status update and the release of a new single, "Welcome".^[15][16] A picture of a handwritten letter states that "Welcome" is a non-album song that is just meant as a single to be heard 'right now'. Soon after, the Fort Minor official website received its first update since 2006, including new merchandise and a free download of the new single. The website also has a new banner reading "Welcome – Coming Soon".^[17]

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

• 2005: Fort Minor Sampler Mixtape
• 2005: Fort Minor: We Major

EPs

• 2006: Sessions@AOL
• 2006: Fort Minor Militia EP

Instrumental albums

• 2005: Instrumental Album: The Rising Tied

Singles

Fort Minor Militia Exclusive Tracks

Militia is the debut studio EP for the Fort Minor's official fan club, known as the "Fort Minor Militia". Subscribers were given exclusive tracks for digital download that were never officially released with the exception of "Kenji (Interview Version)" and "Believe Me (Club Remix)", which were later released to Linkin Park and Styles of Beyond's official websites respectively. These tracks are sometimes referred to as the Fort Minor Militia EP.

Music videos

Awards and nominations

MTV Video Music Awards

References

External links

• Fort Minor's Official Website