Asked if he would ever consider collaborating with American rapper Eminem, Shinoda said: “The idea of collaborating with Eminem is something that’s… I’ve thought of it before.

“Eminem’s great. Actually, the funny thing is I’ve known about Eminem since before he was ever even signed. I had a friend who worked with Rawkus [Records] back in the day and he gave me a cassette tape of, it was the ‘Slim Shady EP’ [1997]. So that was before ‘Just The Two Of Us’, which ended up on his record [‘The Slim Shady’ LP as ”97 Bonnie & Clyde’]. That was when they actually used the ‘Just Two Of Us’ sample, and then when the album came out, they couldn’t clear the sample, so they did a different beat.

“But Em was doing shows at, like, The Roxy for, like, 300 people in L.A., coming on stage on drugs and stuff and just, like, falling onto the stage, and he’d pick up the mic and go crazy. And people loved it, I loved it; he’s always been so great.

“If the opportunity ever arose, I would definitely… Even if it was a thing where we we just did the music and he just did his vocals, I’d be down with that. There’s no competitive thing in it for me. I just think he’s talented. I’d be down to do something.

“We’re in this mode right where I think our band is very collaborative and very interested in doing different things, and if the right combination of elements arises, I’m open to a lot of things in a lot of different genres.”

LINKIN PARK’s new album, “The Hunting Party”, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart in June — the first time since the band’s 2000 debut disc, “Hybrid Theory”, that the group did not land at the top of the chart in its first week of sales.

“The Hunting Party” sold around 110,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The record arrived in stores via Machine Shop Recordings/Warner Bros.