Akon at the Grammy nominations press conference Thursday morning
Photo: MTV News

There's the old saying about it being an honor just to be nominated. That saying no doubt holds true for the artists, composers and songwriters who landed nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards, but they'd also like to win.

"I had a couple of nominations last year, and I didn't win," laughed Ne-Yo, who picked up four Grammy nods on Thursday morning (December 6), including Best R&B Song for "Hate That I Love You" (featuring Rihanna) and Best R&B Vocal Performance for "Because of You." "And to get this many nominations this year, it's an honor for somebody to give you the recognition, of course, but it'd also be an honor if I win."

"Being recognized for doing something you truly love is an amazing thing, whether you win or lose," added Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, up for two Grammys, including Best Pop Vocal Album. "I still really want to win though!"

If Ne-Yo does take home a golden gramophone or two on February 10, he said he plans to celebrate "with a lot of alcohol and a lot of friends and family."

And he wasn't the only artist planning to keep it within the fam. Akon, who received four Grammy nominations of his own, had a similar idea. "I'm calling my mom," he smiled. "She's probably going to scream, 'cause she's always said, 'You know what, you're gonna win.' "

Of course, both of those guys are certified hitmakers — and practically old pros at the Grammy game. For a host of other acts, recognized by the Recording Academy is a completely new experience — and a complete surprise.

"I grew up watching the Grammys every year and always dreamed that some day I would be there," said Tom Higgenson, frontman of Plain White T's — who scored a pair of nods, including Song of the Year, for their massive hit "Hey There Delilah." "It's funny, but before I even started writing 'Hey There Delilah,' I joked with Delilah that the song I wrote for her would be the song that made the band successful and that she'd be my date for the Grammys. Looks like I'll have to give her a call."

"I don't know how we got here, but I ain't complainin'!" exclaimed Hayley Williams, fiery frontwoman of Best New Artist nominees Paramore. "2007 hasn't stopped getting better since it started."

And that enthusiasm wasn't just limited to wet-behind-the-ears newcomers. Take, for example, the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, who seemed positively giddy when he spoke about his band's five nominations — including one for Album of the Year.

"That's pretty huge. We never expected to get something like that," Grohl said. "You're always surprised when you're nominated at the Grammys, because this is the real deal, this is voted on by our peers, by people who really love and understand music. But Album of the Year ... man, I don't know. Maybe Rock Album, or maybe Rock Song, but ... not Album of the Year. Man."

Or Nelly Furtado, who got all prom queen when discussing her nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance.

"The Grammy Awards are like the senior prom of the music business, only they happen every single year," she told MTV News. "Who wouldn't want to be invited to the prom? I was prom queen in high school, so I am thrilled and honored. "

And then there are those who decided to play it cool, despite probably having no idea they'd ever end 2007 with an armload of Grammy noms. Take, for example, Canadian chanteuse Feist, whose breakout hit "1234" earned her four nods — as many as Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna — including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and a spot in the Best New Artist category. For her, it was just another day in the wilds of the Great White North, which meant shoveling snow and baking and a whole lot of gratitude.

"This news has hit me like the blizzard I'm in the middle of, up in the Canadian woods," she wrote in a statement to MTV News. "I haven't quite absorbed it yet, so I'm going to go shovel the walk and make an apple cobbler now. [It's] astounding and amazing and surreal. Thank you."

• Kanye West, Amy Winehouse Lead Grammy Nods

• 2008 Grammy Award Nominees: Akon, Fergie, T.I., More

• Akon
• Foo Fighters
• Linkin Park
• Mike Shinoda
• Plain White T's

Mike Shinoda
Photo: Paul Hawthorne/ Getty Images

Mike Shinoda can trace his roots as an artist back to age 3.

"When my parents would take me to dinner, they would give me a napkin and pen when I was done eating so I wasn't squirming around," the Linkin Park/ Fort Minor MC recalled, citing a popular parenting technique. "It began as something to keep me quiet and occupied and turned into something I love to do."

Now, approximately 25 years later, Shinoda is hosting the first exhibition of his visual art, Diamonds Spades Hearts Clubs, Sunday at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. (Click here to see some of Shinoda's paintings.)

"It's influenced by street art, Japanese art and there's a lot of gambling imagery in this series," Shinoda said of his collection. "I actually don't love to gamble, but I think what artists do in music is a gamble and a lot of things in my life are a gamble, and that's how those things started working their way in there. And I just thought it'd be fun to unify the pieces with a common thread."

Before Linkin Park broke big, Shinoda graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, with a degree in illustration, a medium he's focused on since he was a fourth grader obsessed with drawing Garfield. He was so consumed with sketching the cartoon cat, creator Jim Davis complimented his work once after Shinoda sent it in.

"My style was more rendered, realistic," Shinoda said of his early creations, "and as time went by, it turned into this two-dimensional thing — partially a product of always loving cartoons and animation and partially because I live a really fast-paced life and the band takes up a ton of my time, so I don't have time to render out all my ideas. It sounds funny to say I'm busy, so I paint faster, but that's reality."

Shinoda, along with Linkin Park DJ and Art Center classmate Joe Hahn, has designed LP's artwork in the past, and the art for his Fort Minor album is based on a series of 10 paintings he's showing for the first time Sunday.

Five other artists will also be featured in the exhibit: Craola, Dalek, Gary Baseman, Seen and Hahn. "His stuff is very rendered and photo-realistic, but really comic booky and dark," Shinoda said of his bandmate's work. "[He painted] a decapitated head with no jaw and a 12-inch tongue hanging out of its mouth, so I had to work with that."

Shinoda compared collaborating in the visual art realm to writing songs with Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. "You just have to be respectful of what the other person's doing and do what's right for the song, or in this case, the painting," he said.

In general, the MC said he considers painting and making music to be quite similar. "You have to incorporate your subconscious visceral emotion mixed with a cool, collected, logical side," he explained. "In order for it to work, you have to use both."

Speaking of music, Linkin Park are making significant progress on their next album, and have whittled 100 songs down to 20 with the help of producer Rick Rubin (see "Mike Shinoda Says Linkin Park Halfway Done With New Album). "I'm having the most fun I've ever had working on a record, so hopefully that translates," Shinoda said. "Rick and I were talking yesterday, reviewing some of the lyrics, and out of nowhere he was like, 'I love this record.' That's such a good feeling. To get him excited makes me feel like we're doing something interesting."

Shinoda is also executive producing the next album from Los Angeles hip-hop group Styles of Beyond for LP's Machine Shop imprint. "They're doing so many things they've never done before and not relying on someone else to do it for them, either," Shinoda said. "If there's one thing to look for, they just have the most unique sense of humor and it totally comes through on their record."

• Diamonds Spades Hearts Clubs: Mike Shinoda's Paintings

• Mike Shinoda
• Linkin Park
• Fort Minor

Holly Brook
Photo: Warner Bros.

Mike Shinoda is a hip-hop head who makes his money in a metal band, but when his manager slipped him a demo of singer/songwriter Holly Brook, he was hooked.

"Her style of music is really rooted in the songwriting," Shinoda said. "You don't need all the frills and the production. You can put her on a $50 mic in a room and she sounds just like the record because the talent is really there. A lot of artists rely on tricks to make their stuff sound a certain way, but we all appreciate the rawness of what she does."

"We" meaning the rest of Linkin Park, who immediately signed Brook to their Machine Shop Recordings imprint. Shinoda then turned to Brook's angelic voice while he was recording his Fort Minor side project to sing the hook on his multiformat smash "Where'd You Go."

With Brook's debut, Like Blood Like Honey, due Tuesday (June 6), rapper/producer/multi-instrumentalist Shinoda showcased another skill — interviewing — for an exclusive one-on-one with his protégé for MTV News.

Shinoda: You've been singing for a long time. Did you always know you wanted to be a singer?

Brook: I didn't really have a choice in the matter, because I came from a very musical family, so it was just in my blood.

Shinoda: How long have you been performing?

Brook: Well, I started performing when I was 6 with my mom, and we sang folk songs and kid songs. And we made three independent albums together. We had some interesting song titles, like "We Are the Colors of the Rainbow" [both laugh] and "Grandma Slid Down the Mountain" and, what else? Oh, they're all crazy, like "Hurricane Mom."

Shinoda: I know you play piano and guitar. Are there any other instruments you play?

Brook: I also play an instrument called the dulcimer.

Shinoda: Enlighten the kids.

Brook: OK. A dulcimer you play in your lap — well, there's two kinds of dulcimers, but the kind I play, you play in your lap — and it's got four strings and you strum it. And I picked it up because my mom had one around the house when I was growing up, and there's not really that much to do in Wisconsin so I was bored.

Shinoda: And there are some artists that you like that played dulcimer, right?

Brook: Joni Mitchell, she was a big influence of mine growing up.

Shinoda: Who were some of your other musical influences growing up?

Brook: Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan and a newer band that I really like is Death Cab for Cutie, which you actually turned me on to.

Shinoda: So a lot of people are surprised that you're signed to my band's record label, Machine Shop. I'm sure that was a little bit surprising to you when you first got offered the deal. What was going on through your mind at that point?

Brook: Yeah, it was a little bit of a surprise that somebody like you guys would sign somebody like me.

Shinoda: How did your part in "Where'd You Go" come about?

Brook: Well, you already had the song written and you had your voice on it and wanted a female touch I guess, and so since I was already on the label and you wanted to keep it in the family ... you just asked me to sing it, and then I went to the studio and sang for about a half-hour and left.

Shinoda: As you know, the song "Where'd You Go," I wrote it for my wife, Anna, who you know. A lot of people do songs about being on the road, and I wanted to do this song about the opposite perspective: the people who are at home, your family, your friends, your loved ones who are at home. Have you done a lot of touring? Do you have people at home that miss you?

Brook: I haven't done that much touring, but I can definitely relate in the sense that I made a big move from Wisconsin to L.A. and left all my family and friends there. So I can definitely relate in that way.

Shinoda: The video for "Where'd You Go," that was the first video you've ever done. What was that like?

Brook: Well, it was fun, but there was a lot less shooting time than I thought there would be. I thought it would be a full day of being on camera, but most of the time was actually getting my makeup and hair done.

Shinoda: So you've got an album coming out [Like Blood Like Honey]. Tell us a little about that.

Brook: I'm very excited about it. It's quite a bit different than the stuff that you'd hear right now, because we kept it really organic. We actually recorded a lot of the songs live in the studio with live musicians on analog tape.

Shinoda: And for a lot of people who don't know that much about recording, a lot of studios and even places that manufacture analog equipment are going under — like analog is outdated, it's harder to find, harder to do. So is there a reason why you wanted to do that?

Brook: Well, it gives everything a much warmer sound, kind of like older records, like some of my favorites. So I wanted to capture that. So it's pretty organic and stripped down, and it lets the songs speak for themselves.

Shinoda: Well thanks very much, Holly. Good to see you again.

• Mike Shinoda
• Holly Brook
• Fort Minor

Mike Shinoda
Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

Mike Shinoda occupies the upper echelons of the "TRL" countdown thanks to "Where'd You Go," his somber duet with Holly Brook, recorded under the alias Fort Minor.

Thanks to the song's success, Fort Minor's album, The Rising Tied, has leapt 96 spots up the Billboard albums chart. And over the next few months, Shinoda will release Brook's debut, Like Blood, Like Honey, on his Machine Shop Recordings, as well as serve as the executive producer on the upcoming record by Southern California hip-hop collective Styles of the Beyond.

The question begs to be asked: Why would Shinoda turn his attention back to Linkin Park, who have been largely inactive and battling their label since last May (see "Linkin Park Can Get Back To Making Music After Settling Label Dispute")?

"Going back to Linkin Park is like going back home," Shinoda said. "I always joke that I came into hip-hop through the back door, because people know me from Linkin Park, first and foremost. And so when they hear my album, they go, 'Oh, there's the Linkin Park guy.' When I was putting together the Fort Minor record, it probably would've been easier to put my name on the front of it or to make songs that sounded like Linkin Park. But it's all about making something that's honest."

And since early this year, Shinoda and the rest of Linkin Park have been gathering in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin to begin work on a new album, their first since 2003's Meteora (see "Linkin Park Say They're Going To 'Break Outside The Box' With Rick Rubin"). So far, the sessions have yielded something in the neighborhood of 60 songs, Shinoda said.

"When we were making Meteora, we wrote 70 to 90 songs to come up with the 12 tracks that are on the album," he said. "For this one, we're going to write more than that. We're about halfway into it. But it'll be out this year. And I can already tell that the record is going to sound a little different than our previous ones.

"Rick and I are going to be producing it together, and that's something different too," Shinoda continued. "We've always based who we are on the fact that we all listen to different kinds of music, and we try to mix all those different styles as seamlessly as we can. And Rick's done everything from Beastie Boys and Run-DMC to Dixie Chicks and Justin Timberlake and Slayer. At the core of his being, Rick understands so much. He doesn't have to work for it. So in the studio, there's no thought, there's just feeling."

Shinoda said Linkin Park are close to determining just where they'll record the new album. He said Rubin's Laurel Canyon mansion — which has played host to sessions for everyone from Slipknot to the Red Hot Chili Peppers (see "Peppers Say Return To Sex Scene Yielded Different Magik") — is definitely the early front-runner.

"We're starting to get a feel for what the songs are sounding like, and we're going to determine where we want to work based on them," Shinoda said. "It's early, but from what we've already heard, we can't wait to get into a studio. We're completely excited to start work."

• Fort Minor Perform On "TRL," 05.01.06

• Mike Shinoda
• Linkin Park
• Fort Minor

Mike Shinoda
Photo: MTV News

NORTH HOLLYWOOD — One word comes to Mike Shinoda's mind when describing "Petrified," the first single and video from his Fort Minor side project.

"Irresponsible!" the MC said with a chuckle. "We shot in an abandoned train and were shooting from 6 at night to 7 in the morning, the SOB guys" — as in the hip-hop duo Styles of Beyond, who appear on the track — "are drinking the entire time. It's not just that, though, we've got flare guns [going off] inside and outside the train, just totally irresponsible."

The black-and-white video, which just arrived at video outlets this week, was directed by Robert Hales, best known for Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move" and Jet's "Look What You've Done."

"The Jet video with the cartoons in the forest [is] one of my favorite videos of the last few years, it's just hilarious. So based on that, I know he sets up a good story," Shinoda said, sitting in the studio where he recorded most of the album.

Joseph Hahn, Linkin Park's DJ and resident video director, helped oversee, but Shinoda drew the line there.

"I wanted to make sure people know it's not a Linkin Park project, so instead of having Joe direct the videos, I went with different directors," Shinoda said.

And yes, that's directors, plural. Another Fort Minor video is also in the can, for "Believe Me," the first single overseas and the second in the States. Laurent Briet, whose résumé includes Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Fortune Faded" and Tori Amos' "Sleeps With Butterflies," helmed that one.

"He did a very different video for me," Shinoda said. "It's really clean and there's these crazy light effects. As you're shooting the video, it's like there's nothing there, so you had to imagine what's going to happen. I was very critical. I had to apologize many times for making him go back and change things a lot, but he was a good sport about it and we basically spent an extra two weeks on it. Basically from my face to the album artwork to crazy shapes that fly through the air, they're all transparent, three-dimensional light shapes that flow through the air and carry the song."

"Believe Me" also features Styles of Beyond, whom Shinoda knew even before Linkin Park and has since signed to his Machine Shop record label, as well as Latin percussionist Eric Bobo, who has played with the Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill.

Eventually, probably for the third single, Shinoda plans to bring in Hahn (the only other member of Linkin Park who guests on the album) as a director, the idea being that by then, Fort Minor will have its own identity.

"Because the Fort Minor record is coming out on Machine Shop, we have complete creative control," Shinoda explained. "That's really nice to say we're running the show and whatever we want to do, we do. And be at the point in our career where [Machine Shop's parent company, Warner Bros.,] respects that. So when I want to make a video and say this is how I want to do it, everyone's been cool."

"Petrified" and "Believe Me" are featured on Fort Minor's debut, The Rising Tied, due November 22.

"The Fort Minor record, in case people are confused by it, it's not coming under my name, but the group name Fort Minor, because I want there to be more of a focus on the music and not me," Shinoda said. "I know if I put my name on the CD, everyone will think Linkin Park, but I know it doesn't sound like Linkin Park. And it's The Rising Tied, because it's a tied group of people who are coming up together ... a lot of different people making a statement in hip-hop together."

Along with Styles of Beyond, The Rising Tied features Common, Black Thought and John Legend. Jay-Z executive produced, but Shinoda produced every track and plays most of the instruments (see "Mike Shinoda Respects Jay-Z's Retirement, Says Linkin Park Not On Hiatus").

"It's a hip-hop record, but it's a musician-based hip-hop record," Shinoda said.

• Fort Minor
• Mike Shinoda
• Linkin Park

Fort Minor's Mike Shinoda and Ryu
Photo: MTV News

MIAMI — Before Mike Shinoda started a little rap-rock band called Linkin Park, he spit rhymes over his own homemade beats. It was modest, to say the least, but a few years ago he started missing it.

"I got antsy," he recalled over the weekend at the MTV Video Music Awards (see "Green Day Clean Up, Kelly Clarkson Gets Wet, 50 Rips Into Fat Joe At VMAs"), the official coming-out party for his new side project, Fort Minor. "I wanted to make hip-hop again. You know, I always have to mix it with other things, and I didn't want to have to mix it. I just wanted it to be pure hip-hop."

During breaks from Linkin Park, Shinoda started messing around again on his samplers. He recruited his friends in Los Angeles underground hip-hop duo Styles of Beyond and then Kenna and the Roots' Black Thought, and eventually Common and John Legend. "All of a sudden Jay-Z is the executive producer and it's like a real record," Shinoda said (see "Linkin Park MC Builds A Fort With Jay-Z, Common, John Legend").

Shinoda and Jay became chums while making Collision Course, last year's groundbreaking mash-up album. He came on board to steer the Linkin Park rapper, but does not appear on the album.

"We didn't get any new rhymes from Jay, and I will say this about it: I respect his retirement," Shinoda explained. "People make a big deal about him getting on records and all this stuff and I don't want to be any kind of fuel to that fire. If Jay wants to get on our mixtape that's a different story. I think the record is a Fort Minor record — it has its own identity without Jay on it."

Along with Jay, Shinoda looked to another source for guidance — Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson.

"Since this record is coming out on Machine Shop, our label, I could pick anyone I wanted to work on it, so I chose Brad as our A&R guy, which is hilarious because ... Brad's not a label guy, he's my friend," Shinoda said. "I've known him since I was like 13 years old and he can come in and say, 'Hey, that song, it's good, but trash this part of it and do this differently,' and I will actually listen to him."

Shinoda has full support from Linkin Park, whose singer, Chester Bennington, is also working on a solo album.

"I would have never done this record if I didn't have the blessing of the rest of the guys," Shinoda said. "We're not, like, on hiatus. We're working. We're very serious about our records, and I know the guys are at home right now writing. Hopefully we are looking at next year for a record."

In the meantime, Shinoda is treating Fort Minor just as he would a Linkin Park release. He just returned from a short European tour (with Styles of Beyond and drummer Beat Down backing him up) and is planning a Stateside outing after he shoots the video for the first single, "Petrified."

"It's a change of pace from what people would expect me to do with Linkin Park," he said of the track. "It's got that spirit in there because it's me, but definitely like a different kind of song, like it's a little bit of trash-talking."

"Petrified," as well as the recently leaked "Remember the Name," will be featured on Fort Minor's album, The Rising Tied, due November 22. Shinoda wrote all of the music on the LP and played every instrument, except for the strings on a few of the tracks.

"I feel like hip-hop right now is a lot of keyboard and minimalist stuff, and something I personally wanted to do is bring some of that organic feel back to it, that '90s hip-hop, maybe the Boogie Down Productions or that Native Tongues type of thing or Wu-Tang Clan. So it's a lot of live instrumentation, but it stills bangs like a sample."

"Linkin Park will definitely like this record ... but it's not as safe as what he used to do," Styles of Beyond's Ryu added.

• Mike Shinoda
• Linkin Park
• Jay-Z

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda
Photo: MTV News

In between performing for tsunami victims and mashing it up with Jay-Z, Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda has corralled some of hip-hop's finest for his new solo project, Fort Minor.

"There's a lot of dynamics in the record, and that's why the name Fort Minor works so well," Shinoda explained. " 'Fort' [is] something that's heavy and militant. 'Minor' [is] taken one of two ways: either meaning small or meaning ... between the two basic chords in music theory, you've got major or minor, and minor is described as the darker, sadder chord. The album is about the dynamic when you put all those things together. You've got that spectrum."

Common, Black Thought of the Roots, Kenna, John Legend and L.A. underground hip-hop act Styles of Beyond are featured on the album, called Rising Tied and produced by Shinoda. The Linkin Park lyricist has been friends with Styles of Beyond for nearly eight years and said he feels blessed to provide the group with mainstream attention.

"Their producer helped me buy my first sampler," a smiling Shinoda recalled. "I've known these guys forever, and for me to be able to come back and put them on [Linkin Park's] label, Machine Shop Records, it's a good feeling. You can tell on the song 'Remember the Name' [that] we were having fun with it and being able to brag on it."

Other tracks include "Petrified," "Where'd You Go," "Believe in Me" and the concept song "Right Now," for which Shinoda was joined by another MC, Black Thought.

" 'Right Now' is a cross section of everyday life as each person sees it," Shinoda said. "And Black Thought's verse is one of the best I've ever heard him do. It's beautiful. And it made the song just perfect to me."

After making friendly with Jay-Z on Linkin Park's collaborative mash-up album, Shinoda was able to land Jay as Rising Tied's executive producer. Shinoda insisted on working with trusted people, he said, including Linkin Park bandmate Brad Delson, who, along with Jay, kept him in line creatively.

"Remember the Name" will be the first single the project releases.

"It's a song that sums up where we're coming from with the album and the project," Shinoda explained. "So if you were to look for the record out there on the Internet, look for that [song] first."

Does that mean Shinoda is supportive enough of Internet downloading to say where tracks might appear?

"You're gonna have to be creative," he smiled. "I'm not going to tell people where to look."

Fort Minor's Rising Tied is slated for a late-summer release.

• Mike Shinoda
• Linkin Park
• Jay-Z
• Common
• John Legend

Mike Shinoda at the Music for Relief: Rebuilding South Asia concert
Photo: Getty Images

Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda has spent the last six months raising funds for tsunami victims, designing a line of DC shoes, co-authoring a book and establishing a scholarship at his alma mater, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. And what did he do in his off time? Not much. He only recorded a solo album.

While backstage at last month's Music for Relief: Rebuilding South Asia concert (see "Linkin Park, Jay-Z, No Doubt Rock The House To Rebuild South Asia"), the workhorse MC/producer told MTV News that he's been keeping busy with a hip-hop-tinged side project that he hopes won't offend Linkin Park's guitar-lovin' fanbase.

"It's not straight hip-hop, but it's not rock at all. For our fans who only like the rock side of Linkin Park, I hope you enjoy it, but you never know," he said. "I am playing every instrument on there, but it's not really about me. I'm featuring a lot of great MCs that are friends of mine. I want to work with people that I'm friends with, that I get along with. I'm not just going to go out there and grab whoever's hot at the moment."

Shinoda said that Common and the Roots' Black Thought are just two of the MCs on the album, which at the moment has no release date or working title. But he did explain that he is producing every track on the disc, and to complement the A-list talent he's lined up, he's been burning the midnight oil to make sure the beats are up to snuff.

"I'm trying to get the music up to what we want it to be. It's pressure, because I'm producing it," he laughed. "I want to connect with people I see eye-to-eye with, and make great music. Like I said, it's not really about me."

• Mike Shinoda
• Linkin Park

Paris Hilton, Diddy, Timbaland, Janet Jackson, More Hit The Vegas Party Scene

• Britney Spears
• Justin Timberlake
• Timbaland
• Nick Cannon
• Lil Jon

Mike Shinoda, Pussycat Dolls, Roots, More At Grammy Style Studio

• Mike Shinoda
• Pussycat Dolls
• The Roots