The Rising Tied is the only studio album by Fort Minor, the hip hop side project by Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda.

Shinoda collaborated with many longtime friends (such as hip hop group Styles of Beyond, Jonah Matranga, Holly Brook and Linkin Park turntablist Joe Hahn), as well as many notable and underground hip-hop and R&B artists (such as Common, John Legend, Black Thought, Lupe Fiasco, Kenna, Eric Bobo, Sixx John and Celph Titled) for the album.

[4] Hip hop icon Jay-Z, who collaborated with Linkin Park in their remix EP Collision Course, was also confirmed to be serving as the album's executive producer.

[2][4] Shinoda consulted Jay-Z and Machine Shop Recordings A&R and Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson to decide which songs to make the final cut of the album.

Henry Adaso from About.com praised Shinoda's efforts for straying from familiar themes of hip hop music, stating that he "manages to freeze the genre’s finest moment without yielding to rap album stereotypes.

[10] A reviewer of HipHopDX echoed similar sentiments, saying that Shinoda brought "a fresh hip hop sound to a wide audience of listeners, and he did it with an album that is not only better than most LP's from "real rappers" but with much more passion and dedication.

"[11] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone noted that the album has "plenty of humanist appeal" that "translate Linkin Park's stylized angst into sleek boom-bap, complete with agitated pop choruses and deft instrumental ornamentation.

"[15] A music critic of the Montgomery Advertiser affirmed that The Rising Tied is "a ruminative, sonically fried record as dense and darkly emotional - without pretense - as anything nu metal has thrown up.

"[15] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times felt that The Rising Tied was "a proper (though not very good) hip hop album", although he defined it as "a tacit reminder that hip-hop isn't merely a musical genre; it's also an identity.

"[14] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian felt that Shinoda's "earnest, methodical rapping may be effortlessly outclassed by guest stars...but he bolsters it with sulky, darkly metallic beats that sound like Dr. Dre crossed with Depeche Mode.

"[15] A music critic for The Los Angeles Times said Shinoda "sounds like a suburban b-boy, amiable and sensitive but not charismatic or colorful.

"[15] A reviewer from Oracle Online thought the album was "important" despite the fact that it "won’t challenge hip-hop heavyweight records such as Kanye West’s Late Registration or 50 Cent’s The Massacre".

"[18] A reviewer of the Scripps Howard News Service stated that Shinoda's rapping is "a smidge closer to Eminem than he is to Vanilla Ice.

A reviewer for The Argonaut felt that the inclusion of audio samples from his relatives "bring the track to life and make the listener truly envision the horrors of these camps.

"[21] Steve Juon of RapReviews wrote that for Linkin Park's fans, "the leap to Fort Minor and The Rising Tied won't be a hard one at all.

"[22] A reviewer for Urban Wire recommended the album to "people who've gone through all sorts of rejection, condescendence [sic] and suffering; The Rising Tied would definitely be an aerial to their emotions.