Fort Minor

Hip hop side project of Mike ShinodaTemplate:SHORTDESC:Hip hop side project of Mike Shinoda

 Years active | * 2004–2006
 Labels | * Machine Shop

**Fort Minor** was a hip hop side project by American musician Mike Shinoda, who is better known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, producer, and rapper of the rock band Linkin Park. The project's only album, *The Rising Tied*, was released in 2005. The album's fourth single "Where'd You Go" reached No. 4 on the *Billboard* Hot 100.

## History

### Formation and *The Rising Tied* (2004–2006)

Mike Shinoda created Fort Minor in 2004. Shinoda uses the name Fort Minor for his collaborations with Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), who themselves hail from 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. *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. Jay-Z, who had previously collaborated with Linkin Park on the 2004 album *Collision Course*, was the executive producer for *The Rising Tied*. 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. "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. Another track, "Kenji" describes the experiences of a Japanese-American family during the Japanese American internment of World War II.

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. "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.

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*, an episode in the second season of TV show *Numb3rs*, and the film *The Smurfs 2*. The song also received attention on HBO's Hard Knocks, where NFL star J.J. Watt was filmed rapping the song during a workout.

### Indefinite hiatus (2006–2015)

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. Also in November, Shinoda stated that Fort Minor was 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 by herself. Mike does not appear on this version.

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). 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.

### "Welcome" single (2015) and second hiatus

On June 21, 2015, Shinoda released a new, non-album single titled "Welcome". Fort Minor also appeared as the musical guest on the TBS late-night talk show *Conan* on June 22, 2015. No new announcement has been made and the future of Fort Minor is currently unknown. However, ever since Chester Bennington's suicide on July 20, 2017, Shinoda has been performing and releasing songs as a solo act under his real name.

### Status of Fort Minor (2020)

In September 2020, Shinoda addressed the status of Fort Minor on the podcast *The Green Room with Neil Griffiths*, saying "I'm Fort Minor the way Trent Reznor is Nine Inch Nails. Like, Nine Inch Nails is a group effort, but if Trent doesn't do it, it's not a thing."

He added that there is "no answer" about what's next for Fort Minor. "With Fort Minor I brought different people in to do different things and had some amazing features. I still believe that one of Black Thought's best verses of all time is on *Right Now* on the Fort Minor record and it just happens to be on my record. That would have been one my favourite verses he's ever done whether or not it was for that record. For me, there's a bit of a high bar. I don't know why."

## Discography

### Studio albums

List of studio albums, selected details, chart positions and certifications
* Label: Machine Shop, Warner Bros.
* ARIA: Gold
* RIAJ: Gold

### Mixtapes

* *Fort Minor Sampler Mixtape* (2005)
* *Fort Minor: We Major* (2005)

### EPs

* *Sessions@AOL* (2006)
* *Fort Minor Militia EP* (2006)

### Instrumental albums

* *Instrumental Album: The Rising Tied* (2005)

### Fort Minor Militia exclusive tracks

*Militia* is the debut studio EP for 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*.

## References

1. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
2. ↑ [[[:Template:BillboardURLbyName]] Where'd You Go – Fort Minor (Chart History)]. *Billboard.com*. Billboard.
3. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Montgomery, James (March 4, 2005). "Mike Shinoda's Solo Album May Divide Linkin Park Fans". MTV News. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
4. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Moss, Corey (October 20, 2005). "Linkin Park MC Gets Director With Flair For Video With Flares". MTV News. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
5. ↑ Loftus, Johnny (2006). [[[:Template:AllMusic]] Fort Minor – Biography]. *Allmusic*.
6. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Moss, Corey (November 22, 2005). "Mike Shinoda: Storyteller". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
7. ↑ [[[:Template:AllMusic]] Fort Minor > Charts & Awards].
8. ↑ Jeffries, David (November 22, 2005). [[[:Template:AllMusic]] The Rising Tied > Overview].
9. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Harris, Chris (April 26, 2006). "T.I., Pink, Shakira Can't Shake Rascal Flatts From Billboard #1". MTV News. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
10. ↑ Ringtone of the Year. MTV (September 2, 2006).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 FORT MINOR: The Other Side Of Music | Visionary Artistry Magazine (May 8, 2013).
12. ↑ J.J. Watt Trolls Himself over Infamous 'Remember the Name' Rap from 'Hard Knocks'.
13. ↑ Fort Minor Unofficial: Where'd Mike Go? (March 20, 2009).
14. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
15. ↑ Mike Shinoda on Twitter. *Twitter*.
16. ↑ Fort Minor on Twitter. *Twitter*.
17. ↑ Conan Show Guests Schedule: June 22 – 25, 2015 @ TeamCoco.com. *teamcoco.com*.
18. ↑ Griffiths, Neil (September 10, 2020). The Green Room With Neil Griffiths – Mike Shinoda. Handshake Media Pty Ltd..
19. ↑ Griffiths, Neil (September 13, 2020). 'There's A Bit Of A High Bar': Mike Shinoda Reveals Status Of Fort Minor. Handshake Media Pty Ltd..
20. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
21. ↑ Template:Cite Ryan
22. ↑ Austrian Record Chart. austriancharts.at.
23. ↑ French Record Chart. lescharts.com.
24. ↑ German Record Chart. musicline.de.
25. ↑ Dutch Record Chart. dutchcharts.nl.
26. ↑ New Zealand Record Chart. charts.nz.
27. ↑ Swiss Record Chart. hitparade.ch.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 UK Record Chart. Zobbel.
29. ↑ American certifications – Fort Minor. Recording Industry Association of America.
30. ↑ ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 Albums. Australian Recording Industry Association.
31. ↑ Recording Industry Association of Japan. Recording Industry Association of Japan.
32. ↑ Fort Minor > Awards. *Allmusic*. allmusic.com.
33. ↑ Discography Fort Minor. *australian-charts.com*. Hung Medien.
34. ↑ Discographie Fort Minor (de). *austriancharts.at*. Hung Medien.
35. ↑ Suomen virallinen lista – Artistit. *ifpi.fi*. Musiikkituottajat ry.
36. ↑ Discographie Fort Minor (fr). *lescharts.com*. Hung Medien.
37. ↑ Peak chart positions for singles in Germany:

	* "Believe Me": Chartverfolgung / Fort Minor / Single (de). *musicline.de*. Media Control Charts.
	* "Where'd You Go": Chartverfolgung / Fort Minor Feat.Brook, Holly & Matranga, Jonah / Single (de). *musicline.de*. Media Control Charts.
38. ↑ Discografie Fort Minor (nl). *dutchcharts.nl*. Hung Medien.
39. ↑ Discography Fort Minor. *charts.nz*. Hung Medien.
40. ↑ Discography Fort Minor. *swisscharts.com*. Hung Medien.
41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Gold & Platinum: Fort Minor. Recording Industry Association of America.
42. ↑ Certified Awards Search (enter "Fort Minor" into the "Search BPI Awards" box). British Phonographic Industry.
43. ↑ Fort Minor Feat. Styles Of Beyond "Remember the Name" | IFPI.
44. ↑ Certificazioni – FIMI (it-IT).

## External links

* Official website
* Template:AllMusic

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