Mike Shinoda is an American musician, songwriter, rapper, singer, record producer and graphic designer from Panorama City, California. He is best known as a co-founder of Linkin Park, which he starts in 1996 with bandmates from Agoura High School, including Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon. In Linkin Park, he acts as rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, producer and lead vocalist.

Early life and background

Shinoda is born in 1977 and is a third-generation Japanese American. He is raised in Agoura Hills, California, and his father is Japanese. He grows up with a younger brother, Jason, and is raised as a liberal Protestant. His mother encourages him to begin classical piano lessons at the age of six. By his early teens, he is interested in jazz, blues and hip hop, and later adds guitar and rap-style vocals while in middle school and high school.

After graduating from high school, he studies graphic design and illustration at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. There he attends classes with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn.

Music career

Before Linkin Park, Shinoda and Delson form Xero with Rob Bourdon and start working more seriously toward a career in music. He later creates Fort Minor in 2004 as a hip-hop-focused side project. He also performs and records outside his main band, including a 2008 single with former bandmate Mark Wakefield, Barack Your World.

As a producer, Shinoda works with several acts including Lupe Fiasco, Styles of Beyond and The X-Ecutioners. With Joe Hahn, he helps produce and perform on The X-Ecutioners’ 2002 single It’s Goin’ Down. He also helps produce Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor and works extensively with Styles of Beyond on Reseda Beach, contributing both instrumentals and vocals.

Other projects and composition work

Shinoda co-founds Machine Shop Recordings with Brad Delson in 2002. He also releases a remixed version of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence with an animated video in 2004, and hosts the Rock Phenomenon mixtape/remix CD in 2005 with DJ Vlad and Roc Raida. The release includes a mashup of Linkin Park’s Papercut and David Banner’s Like a Pimp (Remix).

He scores the MTV Video Music Awards in 2005, works with Ramin Djawadi on the video game Medal of Honor: Warfighter, and collaborates with Joseph Trapanese on the score for the American release of The Raid: Redemption in 2011. He also contributes music to the CNN documentary series This Is Life with Lisa Ling, provides the title theme for Into the Badlands, and writes the theme song for Noor Tagouri’s A Woman’s Job.

Visual art and honours

Outside music, Shinoda is an artist and graphic designer who paints visual work that is shown at the Japanese American National Museum. He receives the museum’s Award of Excellence in 2006. He is awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Art Center College of Design in 2009, and East West Players presents him with a Visionary Award in 2010.

Personal life

Shinoda marries author Anna Hillinger in 2003 and they have two children. He also writes for The Big Issue in the UK as its U.S. election correspondent.

Style and genre

His work spans hip hop, instrumental hip hop, pop rap and west coast hip hop, as well as rock and alternative rock through Linkin Park and related projects.