Mike Shinoda has been a long running voice that you can hear with the rock/rap outfit known as Linkin Park. From the early days with the release of Hybrid Theory, the band saw monumental successes. This was largely in part to the combination of Shinoda’s rapping and lyricism combined with the screaming and clean vocals offered by frontman Chester Bennington. Shinoda’s role in the band might be a vital one, but there is still a lot that people do not know about him. To illustrate this point, here are five things that you likely didn’t know about Mike Shinoda.
Shinoda Writes and Composes A Lot of Linkin Park’s Music
While there are many who might think that Chester Bennington (former front man of the iconic rock band who committed suicide in the summer of 2017) was responsible for many of the lyrics and melodies that can be found throughout the albums, it was usually Shinoda. He says that he is constantly writing and recording new ideas, and the band chooses from hundreds of potential options whenever they compose a new record based on the songs they feel are worth fleshing out.
His Makeshift Basement Studio Made The Bands Initial Demo
Shinoda didn’t have the best of equipment to record with in his basement, but nonetheless, the band would put together a basic 4 song demo to send out to labels. This was before the band was even called Linkin Park, at the time going by the name Xero. They would get rejected by major labels over forty times before Warner Brothers decided to roll the dice on their unique sound and delivery. Wise choice, Warner Brothers, it was a very wise choice.
He Branched Out With Fort Minor…Twice
While he had obviously found profound success rapping as a co-front man for Linkin Park, Shinoda had a lot of ideas and lyrics that would never be suitable for the style of the band. Instead he set out on his own with a few other rappers making a rap group known as Fort Minor. While this group saw some successes when they first debuted with singles like “Where’d You Go” and “Remember The Name”, they ultimately disbanded with only one album. In 2010, Shinoda looked to revitalize the former project. While not much has happened on this front, Fort Minor is still a possibility looking forward.
He Was A US Election Correspondent
With deep interest in the world of politics, Shinoda began writing for The Big Press in 2012. He was an official correspondent for that year’s Presidential election. He is still actively writing for the publication to this day.
His Tradecraft Is Graphic Design
Having an extensive background in the world of graphic art and design, Shinoda was an easy choice to help put together graphics for the group and album art. In fact, his work can be seen with their original debut album Hybrid Theory. He continues his artwork both alone and in collaborations that are available to be seen in multiple locations online.
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