Linkin Park Emcee Mike Shinoda Remixes Homeboy Sandman & Aesop Rock's "One Step Closer"-sampling "Get a Dog" (Stones Throw)

"You may find that after listening to the project, it's nearly impossible to get it out of your head. It's only a matter of time before you share it with others," was a running unofficial mission statement during the relatively quiet roll-out for Homeboy Sandman & Aesop Rock's December-released and incredibly infectious Lice EP. Sandman & Rock, two seasoned underground vets who have collectively been active in the rap game for about 20 years and have forged ties with Blu, Felt, Madlib, Kimya Dawson, Das Racist, Hail Mary Mallone, El-P, Nevermen co-founder Doseone, Atmosphere emcee Slug, and Paul White. Charles Hamilton-produced Lice EP closer "Get a Dog" utilizes a phenomenally unexpected and rather hard-hitting sample culled from Linkin Park's 2000 break-out hit, "One Step Closer" and now, group emcee Mike Shinoda has submitted an original remix, effectively bringing the sample-based collaboration full circle. "I don't know how long I've been talking to [Homeboy] Sandman. We had talked about doing something together at some point. It was just kind of casual, and then, he sent me the "Get a Dog" original track," Shinoda recently told Rolling Stone concerning his remix's creation. "He emailed and said "Copyright infringement." I thought it was hilarious. ... I thought the beat was cool, but I also thought it'd be nice to have my touch on it ... to actually remove the Linkin Park sample and do what I would have done today," Mike Shinoda continued.

Peanut Butter Wolf's own Stones Throw Records, who co-released Lice EP along with Rhymesayers Ent. back before Christmas, have dubbed Shinoda's "Get a Dog" rendition as a Fort Minor Remix; seemingly an allusion to Mike Shinoda's recently reinvigorated outer-Linkin Park Hip-Hop side project, which unleashed their first single in nearly 10 years this past summer, "Welcome." Man, I can still vividly remember being completely mind-blown after hearing Fort Minor's impressive pre-album Green Lantern-hosted Hot 97 mixtape, Fort Minor: We Major, which featured clever samples lifted from Kanye, Funkadelic, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Rush, and The Miracles and showcased the vocal talents of then relative newcomers Lupe Fiasco & Holly Brook (these days, better known as Skylar Grey). "I don't have plans for a Fort Minor record, [but] I can predict that there will be a song here and there that will be a Fort Minor song that I can release in between projects," Shinoda told Rolling Stone's own columnist and musician Christopher R. Weingarten, when pressed if there might be a forthcoming follow-up to the rapper-producer collective's Rising Tied. Mike Shinoda's gritty "Get a Dog" Remix is now available from Stones Throw in accompaniment to Homeboy Sandman & Aesop Rock's painfully brief 5-track Lice EP, as well as Fort Minor's critically-acclaimed non-album comeback single, "Welcome."