LINKIN PARK's MIKE SHINODA: 'We Played A Role In Breaking Boundaries Between Genres'

In a new interview with Kerrang! Radio, LINKIN PARK's Mike Shinoda spoke about how the band's multi-platinum-selling debut, "Hybrid Theory" helped break down the boundaries between music styles by combining different sounds within one album.

"It's part of the mission statement of LINKIN PARK," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "We were called HYBRID THEORY — the band was called HYBRID THEORY before [the first LINKIN PARK] album [was released]. And we played a role in it. None of us would try and claim that we broke all the boundaries between genres, but we played a role in breaking boundaries between genres.

"It's funny, 'cause I think some of the new generation don't even know the way things were before bands like us, and then how albums like 'Hybrid Theory' and so on changed the way people looked at music," he continued. "They were born after that, and they got born into that just being the way things are — mixed genres is just the way you listen [to music]. 'Hey, what's your favorite type of music?' 'I like whatever.'

"When I was a kid, if somebody said, 'What's your favorite type of music?', you had an answer — it was rap [or] it was metal, [and] it was a specific kind of metal, and that was it. 'You listen to these things too?' 'No. Fuck those things.' It'd be that serious. And now people don't even think about it.

"I heard LED ZEPPELIN because BEASTIE BOYS sampled them," Shinoda revealed. "My first concert was PUBLIC ENEMY with ANTHRAX and PRIMUS. So those guys were paving the way for what was teaching me about blending genres. RAGE [AGAINST THE MACHINE] had just come out. It's crazy."

Last September, "Hybrid Theory" was officially certified 12 times platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of 12 million copies.

"Hybrid Theory" was issued in October 2000 and was a breakout success for the group, which had formed in 1996 and had played the Los Angeles club scene for several years. The album yielded four massive hit singles — "One Step Closer", "Crawling", "Papercut" and "In The End" — while going on to sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.

LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington was found dead in his Los Angeles-area home on July 20, 2017 after hanging himself. LINKIN PARK headlined an all-star tribute concert for Bennington in October 2017 in Los Angeles but has not announced any future plans for recording or touring.