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 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. 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 is not 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 of 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 ==