Mike Shinoda welcomes back Fort Minor

“People forget what it was like in 2000 to come out with this band,” reflects Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park’s origins. “Back then people listened to a style but now, you cant even pull one genre from another. Everything’s so mixed and that’s exciting," he exclaims. "The most exciting music out right now is stuff that’s above genre.“

Linkin Park are currently winding down the album cycle for 'The Hunting Party' before disappearing into the studio to work on album seven. There are 50 demos already floating about alongside a sense that “our best work could be infront of us. I feel really inspired.”

“I like to think our music has had some role in blending genres,” offers Mike en route to Moscow. “That’s what our music has been about since day one. We never felt like we carried a flag for Nu-Metal but we definitely carried a flag for people who loved many types of music. What we did in the beginning was differentiated from the other groups that did similar stuff because of our aesthetic and reference points. People would say they were in a rap rock band and that’s where they left it. For us, we asked what kind of Rap, what kind of Hip-Hop. I grew up on Hip-Hop,” explains Mike. “It’s the only thing I listened to for three quarters of my life so those reference points were super specific and that’s what I brought into our band,” he continues before listing his influences, The Roots, Mobb Deep, Wu Tang Clan as well as the West Coast scene. “There wasn’t a Dre, Cube, Easy E or Ren album that I didn’t buy.”