The Rising Tied [PA] by Fort Minor

Pros: Slammin' beats, thoughtful rhyming from Shinoda and guests.
Cons: Shinoda won't be winning any "Freestyle Fridays". His flow is just a bit wooden.

When it comes to the rap-rock acts that have clogged the radio waves for the past decade or so, I'm generally unmoved. All of my Limp Bizkit albums (I'm ashamed to say I own three of them) have found their way into my closet featuring "stuff I no longer ...

Pros: Very good beats throughout, introspective lyrics on most songs
Cons: Shinoda can work on his delivery, a bit repetitive in spots

Mike Shinoda released this album to much skepticism and criticism in which he responded with some banging joints that more than enough proves his worth as a rapper, and not just an entity of the band called Linkin Park. As a whole, this record is a ...

Pros: Good beats and lyrics abound
Cons: Overabundant guest spots; Lyrically repetitive at points

A funny thing happened during Linkin Park's rise to the top of the nü-metal scene. Many loved them, many hated them, but a lot of people started to agree, with the releases of Re animation and ...

Pros: Diverse subject matter, Mike Shinoda's passion for making good music.
Cons: Shinoda is definitely not the most technically skilled rapper.

Linkin Park is not one of the artists that I prefer to listen to. There are a whole lot of things that I don’t like about them and pretty much just one thing about them that I do like. That one thing is Mike Shinoda. The first time I heard Mike ...

Pros: Convincing lyrics and solid beats, for the most part
Cons: Mike's flow is sometimes box-y; Some grating beats

"Someone right now is lookin' pretty tired, staring at a laptop trying to get inspired And somebody, living right across the street, just wrote the best thing she's written all week But her best friend's coughing up blood in the sink ...Feeling so ...

Pros: On his own his capabilities are great
Cons: Scheme, occasional unorganized production

Two genres mended together don’t usually create any balance. Nonetheless, Fort Minor acquired his soloist position by emceeing in a rock band (even though disapproving label workers said he should stick to keyboards.) His originality sends through a ...

Pros: Shinoda's production shines and his labelmates compliment his entire project
Cons: His flow might not have the charisma that some desire in an emcee

Mike Shinoda is the hip hop alter ego of the legendary rock band Linkin Park. In an effort to both silence the critics and set a springboard for the artists on his new label Machine Shop, he took on a solo hip hop project that he named Fort Minor. Hoping ...

Pros: Production is consitently good. Refreshing topics. A few lyrically great songs.
Cons: "Believe Me" is plagarized. Mediocre flow. "Kenji" shows lack of effort.

Fort Minor is a side project taken on by Linkin' Park keyboardist and co-producer Mike Shinoda. It's certainly a refreshing album in the hip-hop world in that Shinoda doesn't go on about "big screen TVs, b**ches, and 40s" (to quote a skit ...

Pros: honestly, none.
Cons: writing needs work, Mike's rapping is very stiff and forced,needs to work on delivery.

Well, i'm not a fan of Mike Shinoda, but I happen to know someone who has this CD and I decided to give it a listen and here is the breakdown of it. I'm not going to give my breakdown of all of the songs, i'm going to talk about the album as a whole. ...

Pros: Original, innovative, well versed, outstanding production, diversity in overall musical integrity, emotional.
Cons: Somewhat poppish on a few songs

What I mean when I say "well done", is that this cd is hot. Mike Shinoda artistically recreates all of the genres of music that have in turn influenced his style. With Shawn Carter overseeing executive production on this album and Mike Shinoda playing literally every instrument that sings to you, it was bound to be exceptionally original, and it is. I've been listening to hip-hop since 1990, and I can tell you that this album is of a caliber rarely seen in the new age of hip-hop. My primary frustration with a lot of hip-hop artists today is that they tend to stick to the same dynamics of beats and subject matter... But this cd does not. It's very unique and I find myself bobbing my head to nearly every single track on this EP, and I never find myself fast-forwarding to the next track to get past another. If you enjoy Linkin Park or any kind of original hip-hop, then this is your ticket. Not the best cd of all time, but a very very good cd. Go out and buy it!