fort minor

They feature Shinoda primarily alongside hip hop ensemble Styles of Beyond, as well as a number of other notable guest artists. They are best known for their 2006 single, "Where'd You Go", which features Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga, and their song Remember the Name, which has become very popular in sports montages, amongst other things. Thus far, Fort Minor has released one album, 2005's The Rising Tied.

Music style

Shinoda has stated that the goal for the project was to create music while having fun with his friends.

"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.

Fort Minor's first major album is entitled The Rising Tied and focuses on tracks regarding various aspects of life, many specific to the lives of Shinoda and his collaborators. "Remember the Name", for example, describes the group's views on being rappers, while "Kenji" describes the experiences of Shinoda's family during the Japanese American internment of World War II. Other tracks, such as "Slip Out the Back", have more general lyrical themes.

Fort Minor won Ringtone of the Year for "Where'd You Go" at the 2006 MTV VMA

In Fall 2006, the single "Remember the Name" was used in two promotional TV spots for NBC television's football drama Friday Night Lights.

In November of 2006, Fort Minor released a new video for Remember The Name, which features various amazing feats. Shinoda has stated he felt the video was a nice wrap-up for Fort Minor.

Some contributors to the project are:

• Black Thought: The lead vocalist/emcee of Philadelphia hip-hop ensemble The Roots. He is featured on the song "Right Now" on The Rising Tied.

• Common: He is featured on the song "Back Home" on The Rising Tied.

• Kenna: He is featured on The Rising Tied in the songs "Red to Black" and "The Hard Way" on The Rising Tied Special Edition.

• Lupe Fiasco: He is featured 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.

• John Legend: He is featured on the song "High Road" on The Rising Tied.

• Joe Hahn: is featured on the song "Slip Out The Back" (scratching).

• Styles of Beyond: They are featured on the songs "Remember The Name", "Right Now", "Feel Like Home", "Back Home", "Believe Me", "Petrified", and "Red To Black" on The Rising Tied.

• Jay-Z: Does not perform on The Rising Tied but provides the spoken vocals on "Introduction" and 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.

• Holly Brook: She appears on the song "Where'd You Go" on The Rising Tied and on "Be Somebody" on The Rising Tied Special Edition.

• Ghostface Killah: He is featured on the song "Spraypaint & Ink Pens" on the DJ Green Lantern mixtape Fort Minor: We Major

• Eric Bobo (Cypress Hill): Bobo plays the timbales in the track "Believe Me".

• Jonah Matranga: He appears on The Rising Tied in the songs "Where'd You Go" and "Red To Black".

• Celph Titled: He appears on track 15, "The Battle", and in various other tracks on the "DJ Green Lantern" mixtape Fort Minor: We Major.

• Beatdown: He plays drums for Fort Minor at all of their live shows.

As of August 1, 2006, Fort Minor's debut album has sold 335,000 copies

Discography

Mixtapes and albums

• 2005: Fort Minor: Sampler Mixtape
• 2005: DJ Green Lantern Presents Fort Minor: We Major
• 2005: The Rising Tied

Singles

• From The Rising Tied
  • 2005: "Petrified"
  • 2005, 2006: "Remember The Name" (Re-released as a Single in 2006) #66 US
  • 2005: "Believe Me" #60 UK, #43 AUS
  • 2006: "Where'd You Go" #4 US, #10 NL, #41 AUS, #14 NZ

Other releases

• From Fort Minor: We Major
  • 2005: We Major EP
  • 2006: Get It / Spraypaint & Ink Pens Promo CD
  • 2006: S.C.O.M. / Dolla Promo CD
  • 2006: S.C.O.M. / Dolla / Get It / Spraypaint & Ink Pens (Vinyl)

Music videos

Six music videos have been released:

• "Remember The Name" — directed by Kimo Proudfoot
• "Petrified" — directed by Robert Hales – #8 TRL
• "Where'd You Go" (explicit version), (edited version) — directed by Philip Andelman – #1 TRL (retired)

Trivia

• The mixing samples to "Remember the Name" were released to ccMixter under a Creative Commons license, mainly for the "Remember the Name" remix contest. The samples include the acappellas (both radio edited and unedited) and the music samples straight from recording sessions.
• The winner of the "Remember The Name" remix contest were Marc Kaschke and Norman Mauer, with their Remember the Name (Kaschke & Mauer Remix) track.
• The song "Remember the Name" was one of the official theme songs for TNT's coverage of the 2006 NBA Playoffs.
• The lyrics of the song "Remember the Name" in the album are slightly different to the ones in the music video when Mike is rapping.
• Mike Shinoda and Ryu Maginn (of Styles of Beyond) appear in Apathy's music video for "The Winter"
• The drum patterns of the song "The Hard Way" were used for one of the theatrical previews of the 2007 movie Freedom Writers.
• The orchestral background in the song "Believe Me" are the "Apple loop" named "Orchestra Strings 08" found in GarageBand.