Remember The Rising Tied?; 13 Days Left

No? don't worry you're not the only one who can't remember Mike Shinoda's alter ego Fort Minor and the one rap album he came out with. Since there was nothing of note going on in my world I decided to go through my CD collection and through all the Tupac, Lupe, Nas, Common, B.I.G., The Game etc... in my rap collection I found (a very dusty) Fort Minor CD and decided to listen to it. Not surprisingly, I really enjoyed it and remembered why I had bought it, and that was because the CD was fucking awesome.

When Linkin Park's hip-hop savvy, Mike Shinoda, decided to delve into a rap project on the side in 2005 and assumed the name Fort Minor, critics laughed up his venture as a genre-bending gimmick and didn't take him seriously. Then everyone heard "Remember The Name" and they did (for a while anyway). Shinoda really didn't have to worry much about microphone finesse. Regardless of your feelings about Linkin Park's musical taste, Shinoda is actually quite nice on the mic. "Remember The Name" exposes the rapper in bright lights, an artificial pulse developing his aggressive flow on the mic in a very formidable fashion. It's still a bit more rock oriented than pure hip-hop grit, but the delivery is fluid and confident.

Mike's undeniable passion for hip-hop is evident throughout The Rising Tied. His indulgence in retro-rap flava was on full display on the first single, "Petrified." With its hard-hitting soundclash, "Petrified" is the sonic equivalent of getting brushed off the plate with a high fastball. Not a surprise from an artist who's seated on the opposite end of violent rap. In fact, he ridicules commonplace gangsterisms on "Cigarettes" ("everyone exaggerates a tiny little bit, make that shit sound a lot more gangster than it really is”).

The album really has it's moments. "Kenji", a sharp recounting of Shinoda's family history during the U.S. internment of the Japanese during WWII, has a rolling bassline that runs through the track that works well with the seriousness of the lyrics; and "Slip Out The Back" are some really catchy, yet melodic and emotional rap songs with deep meanings. Most of the songs are pretty original, and some songs have a rock edge as a nice balance to the CD. For example, "Believe Me" is a song that could very easily be used in a Linkin Park album; the chorus is sung very well (even sounds like Chester Bennington singing it) and flows perfectly with the couplets.

The Rising Tied didn't break any new grounds in the rap game, but it’s loaded with melodies that tug and bang at the same time. Overall, Fort Minor comes across as fluent in the edgy rhetoric of hip-hop.

Peace and Much Love To Ya :)