Michael Kenji "Mike" Shinoda (born February
11, 1977)[1] is an American musician , record
producer , and artist . He is best known as the
rapper, principal songwriter , keyboardist,
rhythm guitarist and one of the two vocalists
of the rock band Linkin Park. Shinoda is also a
solo rapper in his side-project Fort Minor . He
also provides artwork, production, and mixing
for both projects. Shinoda was ranked #72 in
the list of "Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists" by
Hit Parader. Shinoda's voice is baritone .
Life and career
Early life
Shinoda was born and raised in the affluent
Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills . [1] His
father is Japanese-American, descendant of
the Kumaichiro Shinoda floral company family,
and his mother is of Hungarian descent. [2][3]
He has a younger brother, Jason. He was
raised as a liberal Protestant. [4]
Following his mother's wishes, Shinoda began
classical piano training lessons around the age
of six. By thirteen, he expressed the desire to
move toward playing jazz , blues , and even
hip-hop . [5] He added the guitar and rap-style
vocals to his repertoire during his middle
school and high school years, eventually.
Shinoda attended Agoura High School with
Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob
Bourdon. The trio formed the band Xero, and
began to make a more serious attempt to
pursue a career in the music industry. After
graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the
Art Center College of Design to study graphic
design and illustration . [1] He attended classes
with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn . While
studying at the Art Center College of Design,
he experienced a form of identity crisis. Years
later, in an interview he said:
“ I think it was probably in
college that I realized that
there was a difference
between Japanese and
Japanese-American . That's
important to realize. It's not
the same thing and then
eventually with Linkin Park,
I toured in Japan . I've been
there now I think four times.
I remember the first time I
went, how familiar it
seemed, just getting out of
the plane, it smelled like my
aunt's house, in the airport,
it smelled like Japan. I don't
know if anybody else even
noticed it but I walked out
of the plane and thought this
is definitely familiar to me,
didn't even see anything yet.
And then going to Tokyo,
Osaka , Kyoto , Nagoya , you
just recognize things about
the way people act, the small
things that people do such as
how you'll grab a piece of
paper. There are things that
are more obvious like taking
somebody's business card
with two hands. You don't do
that in the States. When I
saw somebody do that I
went, "Oh yeah, my uncle
always does that," you know.
There are little things that
culturally come from Japan
but they also exist in
Japanese American culture
and it made me feel like the
connection was there and I
kind of hadn't realized how
much of it was there. [6]
”
Shinoda graduated from college with a
bachelor's degree in illustration a year in
advance and secured himself a job as a graphic
designer. [1] With his background as a graphic
artist , Shinoda has taken it upon himself in
designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with
Hahn, and has even designed the album cover
for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold.
In later years he displayed his art skills in his
debut art showcase (Diamonds Spades Hearts
& Clubs) at Gallery 1988[7] in Los Angeles in
the time leading up to Linkin Park's album
Minutes to Midnight .
