Kenji (song)

Infobox Song
Name = Kenji


Artist = Fort Minor
from Album = The Rising Tied
Released = November 22, 2005
Format = CD
Recorded = The Stockroom
NRG Studio
Genre = Alternative Rap
Length = 3 min 51 s
Label = Machine Shop Recordings
Warner Bros. Records
Producer = Mike Shinoda / Jay-Z
Reviews =

"Kenji" is a song off the album "The Rising Tied" by Fort Minor. The song features clips from an interview with the father and aunt of lead singer Mike Shinoda and tells the vivid story of the life of Mike's family before, during and after World War II including their internment at Manzanar. The title is of reference to Shinoda's middle name.

The lyrics of the song tell of how a man "Kenji" was a Japanese immigrant just before the World War II started, and how when the war started all the Japanese were moved over to camps, where they lived in fair conditions, but when they moved back how they were subjected to racial discrimination, at the end of the song Shinoda speaks of how Kenji is fictional, but he was just a cover name for the people that such events actually fell upon.

Another version is available off the Fort Minor Militia Tracks featuring an extended version of the interview featured on "Kenji" available for download off the Fort Minor Website.

External links

[http://www.antimusic.com/morley/05/FortMinor.shtml Full length interview] with Shinoda discussing the background stories of many of the tracks off The Rising Tied, including Kenji.