Fort Minor

Mike took up a solo project in 2004. According to him, all the songs that did not fit the style of Linkin Park ended up on The Rising Tied album. The choice of the name "Fort Minor" reflects the interaction between opposites: something big and strong versus small and weak (or musically dark). The album's title is also a play on words. All the invited musicians who took part in the recording of the album, according to Shinoda, merge together in the musical world. Recordings include Styles of Beyond, Black Thought (from The Roots), Common, Kenna, Lupe Fiasco, John Legend, Joe Han (from Linkin Park), Jay-Z, Skylar Gray, Celph Titled, Sixx John, Jonah Mantraga, Eric Bobo (from Cypress Hill). The album is executive produced by Jay-Z, who previously worked with Linkin Park. In an interview, Shinoda said that he played all the instruments himself and wrote all the lyrics to the songs.

The debut album was released on November 22, 2005. Having received good reviews from critics, it is ranked 51st on the Billboard 200 and 142 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 2006, Mike released 2 mixtapes with songs not included in the album and with their remixes. In November 2006, Mike announced that he was closing the project to work on the Linkin Park album.