"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, D as 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."