2008 Woodie Awards
Fort Minor a major success
Pete Nickeas
Issue date: 12/16/05 Section: Tempo
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A lot of people hate on Linkin Park. The hard-rock crowd doesn't like the electronic influences, the alternative crowd doesn't like the Hip-hop influences, the Hip-hop crowd doesn't like that they're so heavily influenced by Hip-hop but haven't really given it any credit or recognition. The TRL crowd really jumped on them, though. Millions of records later, Hip-hop heads still aren't convinced.
Hell, they use MPC's and keyboards on their beats, they have a DJ, and there's even a rapper in the crew. Back when "In The End" was released to MTV, people were surprised that this kid was rapping over guitars. But the worst part was, they didn't call it rap. They absolutely called it "Hip-hop influenced," but nobody just straight up called what Mike Shinoda was doing rapping.
Now, it's been almost six years since their debut album, Hybrid Theory was released. And it's taken six years for those Hip-hop influences to really come to fruition. While Reanimation and Collision Course may have given that Hip-hop heads their fix from Linkin Park, the musical aspect of the group was still largely rock-influenced.
But Rising Tied, the new record from Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda's "alter-ego"), is pure Hip-hop. Mike produced, sequenced, and mixed the entire album. He even played all the instruments.
Styles of Beyond appear on six of the new tracks, making them a frequent collaborator if not an unofficial member of the group. One of those tracks, which a video has already been shot for, is "Remember the Name." This cut is lyrically saturated, following a simple but effective format: three sixteen-bar verses from Mike, Ryu, and Takbir, a hook, then three more verses. The hook isn't repeated ten times before and after each verse, though that would all but guarantee radio play.
One track that may get some radio play, though, is "Red to Black." This track is the one that most resembles a Linkin Park track, almost solely for the use of guitars as the dominant instrument. On it, Mike and Styles of Beyond dive head-first into issues that effect every-day people, like gambling problems, less-than-stellar family lives, chemical dependencies, and being broke. Each of the emcees matches their flow with the tempo of the guitar and drums, almost mimicking the fast-rap style that Bone made popular in the mid-nineties.
Hell, they use MPC's and keyboards on their beats, they have a DJ, and there's even a rapper in the crew. Back when "In The End" was released to MTV, people were surprised that this kid was rapping over guitars. But the worst part was, they didn't call it rap. They absolutely called it "Hip-hop influenced," but nobody just straight up called what Mike Shinoda was doing rapping.
Now, it's been almost six years since their debut album, Hybrid Theory was released. And it's taken six years for those Hip-hop influences to really come to fruition. While Reanimation and Collision Course may have given that Hip-hop heads their fix from Linkin Park, the musical aspect of the group was still largely rock-influenced.
But Rising Tied, the new record from Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda's "alter-ego"), is pure Hip-hop. Mike produced, sequenced, and mixed the entire album. He even played all the instruments.
Styles of Beyond appear on six of the new tracks, making them a frequent collaborator if not an unofficial member of the group. One of those tracks, which a video has already been shot for, is "Remember the Name." This cut is lyrically saturated, following a simple but effective format: three sixteen-bar verses from Mike, Ryu, and Takbir, a hook, then three more verses. The hook isn't repeated ten times before and after each verse, though that would all but guarantee radio play.
One track that may get some radio play, though, is "Red to Black." This track is the one that most resembles a Linkin Park track, almost solely for the use of guitars as the dominant instrument. On it, Mike and Styles of Beyond dive head-first into issues that effect every-day people, like gambling problems, less-than-stellar family lives, chemical dependencies, and being broke. Each of the emcees matches their flow with the tempo of the guitar and drums, almost mimicking the fast-rap style that Bone made popular in the mid-nineties.
