Fort Minor

Fort Minor is the American hip hop side project of Mike Shinoda, who is better known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, producer, and lead vocalist 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.[2]

Fort Minor
Mike Shinoda, the frontman of Fort Minor, performing with Linkin Park at Rock im Park 2014
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Alternative hip hop rap rock[1]
Years active	2004–2006 2015
Labels	Machine Shop Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Styles of Beyond Lupe Fiasco Common John Legend Skylar Grey Celph Titled Eric Bobo
Website	fortminor.com
Past members	Mike Shinoda

History

Formation and The Rising Tied (2004–06)

Mike Shinoda joined Fort Minor as a vocalist. 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.[3] 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.[4] Jay-Z, who had previously collaborated with Linkin Park on the 2004 album Collision Course, was the executive producer for The Rising Tied.[5] 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.[6] "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.[7] Another track, "Kenji" describes the experiences of a Japanese-American family during the Japanese American internment of World War II.[8]

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."[9] 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.[10]

The third track on the album, "Right Now", is featured in the trailer of The Family That Preys by Tyler Perry.[11]

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.

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.[11] 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.[12]

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).[13] 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".[14][15] Fort Minor also appeared as the musical guest on the TBS late-night talk show Conan on June 22, 2015.[16] 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 Fort Minor songs as a solo act.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Peak chart Positions								Certifications
		US [17]	AUT [18]	FRA [19]	GER [20]	NLD [21]	NZ [22]	SWI [23]	UK [24]
2005	The Rising Tied Released: November 22, 2005 Label: Machine Shop, Warner Bros.	51	37	151	25	79	22	42	142	RIAA: Platinum[25]

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

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions										Certifications	Album
		US [26]	AUS [27]	AUT [28]	FIN [29]	FRA [30]	GER [31]	NLD [32]	NZ [33]	SWI [34]	UK [24]
"Petrified"	2005	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		The Rising Tied
"Remember the Name" (featuring Styles of Beyond)		66	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RIAA: 4× Platinum[35] BPI: Silver[36]
"Believe Me" (featuring Eric Bobo & Styles of Beyond)		—	43	47	5	—	29	58	—	—	92
"Where'd You Go" (featuring Holly Brook & Jonah Matranga)	2006	4	41	29	8	24	18	15	14	62	—	RIAA: Platinum[35]
"S.C.O.M. / Dolla / Get It / Spraypaint & Ink Pens" (Promo CD) ("S.C.O.M." performed by Ryu featuring Juelz Santana & Celph Titled / "Dolla" performed by Fort Minor featuring Styles of Beyond / "Get It" performed by Styles of Beyond / "Spraypaint & Inkpens" performed by Ghostface Killah featuring Mike Shinoda and Lupe Fiasco)		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Fort Minor: We Major
"Welcome"	2015	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

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.

Date	Title
November 2005	"Do What We Did" (Demo) (featuring Styles of Beyond)
December 2005	"Kenji" (Interview Version)
January 2006	"Tools of the Trade" (Demo) (featuring Styles of Beyond & Celph Titled)
February 2006	"Where'd You Joe?" ("Where'd You Go" Remix by Mr. Hahn) (featuring Holly Brook)
April 2006	"Believe Me" (Club Remix) (featuring Eric Bobo & Styles of Beyond)
May 2006	"Start It All Up" (Demo)
June 2006	"Move On" (Demo) (featuring Mr. Hahn)

Music videos

Date	Title	Director
January 12, 2005	"Petrified"	Robert Hales
February 26, 2005	"Remember the Name"	Kimo Proudfoot
December 12, 2005	"Believe Me"	Laurent Briet
May 29, 2006	"Where'd You Go"	Philip Andelman
June 22, 2015	"Welcome"	Jeff Nicholas

Awards and nominations

MTV Video Music Awards

Year	Award	Nomination	Result
2006	Ringtone of the Year	"Where'd You Go" (featuring Holly Brook)	Won

References

1. "Beck Leads Adult Alternative, Fort Minor & Disturbed Return to Charts".
2. "Where'd You Go - Fort Minor (Chart History)". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
3. Montgomery, James (March 4, 2005). "Mike Shinoda's Solo Album May Divide Linkin Park Fans". MTV News. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
4. 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). "Fort Minor – Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
6. Moss, Corey (November 22, 2005). "Mike Shinoda: Storyteller". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
7. "Fort Minor > Charts & Awards". allmusic. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
8. Jeffries, David (November 22, 2005). "The Rising Tied > Overview". allmusic. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
9. 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. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
11. "FORT MINOR: The Other Side Of Music | Visionary Artistry Magazine". 2013-05-08. Archived from the original on May 8, 2013. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
12. "Fort Minor Unofficial: Where'd Mike Go?". 2009-03-20. Archived from the original on March 20, 2009. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
13. "One-Hit Wonders of the 2000s". Billboard. Billboard. 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
14. "Mike Shinoda on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
15. "Fort Minor on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
16. "Conan Show Guests Schedule: June 22 - 25, 2015 @ TeamCoco.com". teamcoco.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
17. "Billboard 200 – Fort Minor". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
18. "Austrian Record Chart". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
19. "French Record Chart". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
20. "German Record Chart". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 2015-06-22. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
21. "Dutch Record Chart". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
22. "New Zealand Record Chart". charts.nz. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
23. "Swiss Record Chart". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
24. "UK Record Chart". Zobbel. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
25. "American certifications – Fort Minor". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
26. "Fort Minor > Awards". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
27. "Discography Fort Minor". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
28. "Discographie Fort Minor". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
29. "Suomen virallinen lista - Artistit". ifpi.fi. Musiikkituottajat ry. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
30. "Discographie Fort Minor". lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
31. Peak chart positions for singles in Germany:
    • "Believe Me": "Chartverfolgung / Fort Minor / Single". musicline.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
    • "Where'd You Go": "Chartverfolgung / Fort Minor Feat.Brook,Holly & Matranga,Jonah / Single". musicline.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
32. "Discografie Fort Minor". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
33. "Discography Fort Minor". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
34. "Discography Fort Minor". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
35. "Gold & Platinum: Fort Minor". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
36. "Certified Awards Search" (enter "Fort Minor" into the "Search BPI Awards" box). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 28, 2017.

External links

• Fort Minor's Official Website