Mike Shinoda took a bold step last fall when he reintroduced Linkin Park with a new lineup featuring drummer Colin Brittain and singer Emily Armstrong as lead vocalist—taking on the role once held by Chester Bennington, who died by suicide in 2017.

Mike, who co-founded Linkin Park in 1996, has long served as the group’s de facto producer, as well as its MC and keyboardist. The band rose to massive success in the 2000s, with a run of genre-blending albums that have collectively sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

In November, Linkin Park released From Zero, their eighth studio album and the first with Emily Armstrong as frontwoman. The record has already surpassed three billion streams online.

On today’s episode, Leah Rose talks to Mike Shinoda about why he chose not to retire Linkin Park—and instead took the creative risk of reinventing the band nearly 30 years after its formation. Mike also shares his favorite Linkin Park songs of all time and explains how the band managed to stand apart from the bro-centric, frat-boy culture that defined much of early-2000s nu-metal.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Mike Shinoda and Linkin Park HERE.

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