FORT MINOR Invasion

Keywords: The Machine Shop (Warner Bros. Records), We Major, Invasion

Genre: Hip Hop (fused with electronic elements thanks

to DJ Hahn and DJ Green Lantern)

Fan Club: Fort Minor Militia

Info: Fort Minor is a hip-hop side-project of Mike Shinoda, better known as the main link in the American rock band Linkin Park. The Rising Tied is his debut solo campaign released in November 2005, involving many famous friends of his. The track ‘Where’d you go’ went up to #4 on Billboard Hot 100 chart while my personal favorite ‘Remember the name’ settled for #66.

Shinoda, one of the most talented guys in the industry now, is the soul of FM. He wrote all the lines, composed all the tracks, played 80% of the instruments on his own as he revealed in an MTV interview. The lines for the rap sometimes go extremely personal with the track ‘Kenji’ being the most noticed for exploring the experience of Japanese-American internees during World War II. Kenji is RAP Story-telling at its best.

At one point, it was rumored that Fort Minor was a signal that Linkin Park was heading to split. But Shinoda’s dedication to the Linkin Park has led to the abatement of Fort Minor attire.

Participating Artists: Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Styles of Beyond, Celph Titled Apathy, Get Busy Committee, DJ Green Lantern, Demigodz

Trivia: ‘Remember the name’ appeared in the trailers of the latest block buster ‘The Karate Kid’ starring the legend-Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith (son of Will Smith).

Links: www.fortminor.com, www.linkinpark.com

My Fort Minor playlist:     1.Remeber the Name (ft. Styles Of beyond)

                                     2.Believe me (ft. Bobo & Styles Of Beyond)

                                     3.Feel like Home (ft. Styles Of beyond)

                                     4.The Hard Way

                                     5.Where’d you go (ft. Holly Brook & Jonah Matranga)

                                     6.Kenji

           

Where are we heading?

A Malayalam professor of Newman College of Arts in Kerala was recently in the front pages of regional newspapers for preparing a religiously inflammatory question paper which seemingly offended the religious feelings of another community. The next thing we hear is that this guy got his hand chopped off by a bunch of hooligans while he was returning from church after the Sunday offerings with his mother and sister. Welcome to God’s own country- Kerala… gradually turning into land of atrocities and cannibalism. Nations only 100% literate state is obviously not mature enough to discriminate between the good, bad and the ugly.

The news channels aired the news for the next 24 hours without a break and the most shocking scene came when I saw the victim’s sister carrying the cut-off hand in a plastic bag as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The evening shows in the TV channels were quickly filled up with serious discussions and debates on whether this was a planned attack on the communal harmony in the state. Religious leaders were called upon (the channel guys were certainly hoping for a possible brawl to increase their TRPs) and some unheard names from the political arena also rushed in with their best suit on. The discussions were all rubbish, quickly changing directions and taking up rather vague issues like governance of Christian missionaries in the state & alleged terrorist training camps in Muslim institutions. The politicians were not at all interested in mocking their grief for the unfortunate but were ready to announce their allegiance towards the next day’s ‘Bharat Bandh’. They quickly went on to explain how they oppose the weakness of the current Central Government for fuel price rise and inadequate support for the common people, as if they were the only messiah of the mobs. I turned off the TV when I couldn’t take any more of this Tamasha.