Where'd You Go (Fort Minor Song) - Background and Composition

Background and Composition

Fort Minor, Skylar Grey and Jonah Matranga were the vocalists of "Where'd You Go".

"Where'd You Go" was written and produced by Shinoda. "Where'd You Go" is an alternative hip hop song that features a piano-based hook, as well as a choir singing background vocals throughout the song. According to the digital music sheet published at musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of E major and is set in simple time. Brook and Matranga's vocal ranges span from the low note of B₃ to the high note of B₄.

Shinoda wrote the song from the perspective of a person whose lover is always traveling. In an interview with MTV, Shinoda stated why he chose to write from that point of view, saying "A lot of people do songs about being on the road, and I wanted to do this song about the opposite perspective: the people who are at home, your family, your friends, your loved ones who are at home." Shinoda also said that he wrote the song for his wife, Anna. When consulting executive producer and rapper Jay-Z and Linkin Park guitarist and Machine Shop A&R Brad Delson on which songs should be included in The Rising Tied, "Where'd You Go" is one of two songs that he requested not to remove from the album, since the song drives his wife to tears every time she listens to it.

Jonah Matranga and Skylar Grey, who was then known as Holly Brook and was signed to Shinoda's record label Machine Shop Recordings, were featured artists of the song. Shinoda requested Brook to sing the chorus, since Shinoda had already written the entire song. Brook recorded the song for half an hour. Shinoda praised her vocals, calling her voice as "unbelievable." Shinoda affirmed the Brook's musical style "really rooted in the songwriting...You don't need all the frills and the production. You can put her on a $50 mic in a room and she sounds just like the record because the talent is really there. A lot of artists rely on tricks to make their stuff sound a certain way, but we all appreciate the rawness of what she does."

Shinoda stated that "Where'd You Go" was a possible single candidate at the time of the album's release. The song was released to radio airplay as the fourth and final single from The Rising Tied on April 14, 2006.