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Fort Minor




  band Name Fort Minor
  years Active 2004–present
  origin Los Angeles, California , USA
  status Active
  music Genre Rap, Hip-Hop
  record Label Warner Brothers Records <br> Machine Shop Recordings
  current Members Mike Shinoda


Fort Minor is a Hip-hop side project created by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park . The group's first album is entitled '' 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 Mainstream 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:
  • '''. Widely renowned for their unique live performances, The Roots have been making music since the late '80s, and are still going strong to this day. He features on the song "Right Now" on The Rising Tied .



  • ''' (but raised in both Cincinnati and Virginia Beach), alt-funk artist Kenna became captivated by the sounds of U2 and Stevie Wonder early on. He features on The Rising Tied in the songs Red to Black and The Hard Way on The Rising Tied Special Edition.


  • ''' song "Diamonds From Sierra Leone", Lupe Fiasco, like Common, is from Chicago's hip-hop scene. He features on the song "Be Somebody" on the Special Edition of The Rising Tied and "Spraypaint & Ink Pens" on the DJ Green Lantern mixtape ''Fort Minor: We Major''.


  • ''' singer and pianist John Legend combines the raw fervor of contemporaries Cody ChesnuTT and the burning precision of D'Angelo . He features on the song "High Road" on The Rising Tied .


  • '''. Takbir features on the song "Be Somebody" on The Rising Tied Special Edition.


  • ''', which he co-founded with former friend Damon Dash . He and Shinoda became friends during the course MTV Mash-Up ''Collision Course'' which mixed together classic Jay-Z and Linkin Park songs such as "99 Problems" and "One Step Closer". He is not performing on The Rising Tied but is an executive producer. He appears on the remix to the Linkin Park song "Nobody's Listening" on the Green Lantern mixtape ''Fort Minor: We Major''.



  • ''', Ghostface Killah has had a prolific career as an emcee, with over 6 solo albums and a numerous guest appearances in other songs. He features on the song "Spraypaint & Ink Pens" on the DJ Green Lantern mixtape ''Fort Minor: We Major''


  • Eric Bobo ( Cypress Hill ): Mike Shinoda has a love for Latin percussion, which is played by Bobo on the track "Believe Me".


  • ''', a major influence on Linkin Park, he has continued as solo musician under both the name Onelinedrawing (on Jade Tree Records ) and under his own name. He also was recently the singer of emo/power-pop band Gratitude , and is well-known for his previous collaborations with the Deftones . He appears on The Rising Tied in the songs "Where'd You Go" and "Red To Black".



RELEASES


The Rising Tied


'' The Rising Tied '' is the first project from Fort Minor, the album was released on 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. In addition to the confirmed artists already on the bill for the album, Mike is rumoured to have met with Snoop Dogg , Ice Cube , Musiq and more.

As well as producing the CD, Mike played 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'' was Compose d, Produce d and Mix ed 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 was featured on one song. ''The Rising Tied'' was released on November 22, 2005 with the song "Petrified" believed to be the lead single in the U.S.; as for the UK & Australia, "Believe Me" was the single.

The following is the confirmed tracklisting on The Rising Tied:
# Introduction
# Remember The Name (featuring Styles Of Beyond )
# Right Now (featuring Black Thought and Styles Of Beyond )
# Petrified
# Feel Like Home (featuring Styles Of Beyond )
# Where'd You Go (featuring Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga )
# In Stereo
# Back Home (featuring Common and Styles Of Beyond)
# Cigarettes
# Believe Me (featuring Eric Bobo and Styles Of Beyond)
# Get Me Gone
# High Road (featuring John Legend )
# Kenji (with vocal samples from Mike's father and aunt)
# Red To Black (featuring Kenna , Jonah Matranga , and Styles Of Beyond)
# The Battle (featuring Celph Titled )
# Slip Out The Back (featuring Joe Hahn )


BONUS TRACKS


  • Be Somebody--- (featuring Lupe Fiasco and Holly Brooks)

  • There They Go--- (featuring Sixx John)

  • The Hard Way--- (featuring Kenna)



CHART PLACING

The Rising Tied debuted at #27 on the Australian HMV charts and at #7 on the Australian ARIA urban chart and has since gained a gold status in Australia . The first single, Believe Me placed #31 on the Australian HMV charts in its first week and peaked at #43 on the Australian ARIA top 100 singles. Both failed to chart in the United Kingdom . Although Believe Me did well in the Euro Top 20. Where'd You Go was the #1 most added song at its format on U.S. radio for the first two weeks. Recently, Where'd You Go was released as a single in Australia and debuted at #49 on the ARIA charts.


CD SINGLES



VINYL RECORDS



On August 20 , 2005 , a song from the album, "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. On October 3rd, 2005, "Believe Me" was released as part of the Fort Minor Producer Player deal. Each week for 6 weeks, samples of Remember the Name's chorus would be posted on the player (drums, vocals, strings, etc). When the 6th week arrived, the vocals were released, and a new song called "Believe Me" was released. Mike Shinoda sings the chorus (albeit with a voice that was warped in post production, but nonetheless marking the first time since Linkin Park's demo tracks that Shinoda has sung on a studio track) of this song, with his good friends from Styles of Beyond backing him up on the song.

A special edition has been confirmed and will contain a DVD with Behind-The-Scenes footage, and the "Petrified" Music Video.

The album artwork, created by Mike Shinoda, was released on October 3rd, 2005, resembling his artwork on DC shoes.

On October 4th, 2005, the singles "Remember The Name" and "Petrified" were released to digital music stores including iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and countless others.


Fort Minor Street Team Sampler Mixtape

This is a mixtape put together by DJ Cheapshot released with various other promotional items to members of the U.S. Street team.

Tracklisting of the sampler :
# Intro
# Remember The Name (featuring '' Styles Of Beyond '')
# Dolla (featuring '' Styles Of Beyond '')
# Get It ('' Styles Of Beyond '' Track)
# Petrified





This is a mixtape released in October by DJ Green Lantern in conjunction with Mike Shinoda .

Mixtape tracks are as follows:

#Green Lantern Intro
#100 Degrees - Fort Minor
#Dolla - Fort Minor & Styles of Beyond
#Bloc Party - Apathy, M. Shinoda, & Tak of S.O.B.
#S.C.O.M. - Ryu of S.O.B., Juelz Santana, & Celph Titled
#Remember The Name (The Funkadelic Remix) - Fort Minor feat. Styles of Beyond
#Bleach (Jimi Remix) - Styles of Beyond
#Spraypaint & Inkpens - Ghostface, M. Shinoda, & Lupe Fiasco
#Petrified (Doors Remix) - Fort Minor
#Get It - Styles of Beyond
#Be Somebody - Fort Minor feat. Lupe Fiasco and Holly Brook
#Respect 4 Grandma - Fort Minor, Styles of Beyond, & Celph Titled
#There They Go (Green Lantern Remix) - Fort Minor feat. Sixx John
#All Night - Apathy, Tak of S.O.B., & Celph Titled
#Nobody's Listening (Green Lantern Remix) - Mike Shinoda
#Cover and Duck - Fort Minor feat. Styles of Beyond
# {Link without Title} Remember The Name (Album Version) - Fort Minor feat. Styles of Beyond
# {Link without Title} Petrified (Album Version) - Fort Minor
#Outro

The mixtape title, "We Major" was a pun made by DJ Green Lantern (based on Kanye West's song of the same name). Shinoda liked the idea of the title contrasting with the name "Fort Minor".

The mixtape was purposely leaked over the Internet; it was, besides being a creative and innovative showcase of Shinoda's posse's skills, a promotional tool: members of the Fort Minor Street Team (formerly Foot Soldiers) obtained these in the mail to give away to DJ's, hip hop stores, concerts, or anywhere else that they could distribute them. The ''We Major'' mixtapes were also available on DJ Green Lantern 's website for sale, and still are.


VIDEO CLIPS

On October 6th, 2005, the music video for the song "Petrified" made its online debut on the Fort Minor website. Alongside with Mike Shinoda, various other members of Fort Minor were also featured in the video.

And so far, four music videos have been confirmed; the songs can be heard on the Be A Fort Minor Producer page on fortminor.com:


FORT MINOR MILITIA TRACKS


# Do What We Did
# Tools of the Trade
# Tools of the Trade Pt.2
# Where'd You Joe (Where'd You Go Remix by Joe Hahn)


EXTERNAL LINKS