Rostrum Records

Rostrum Records is an independent record label, founded in 2003 by Benjy Grinberg in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Grinberg is president of the label, which currently has eight artists on its roster: Wiz Khalifa, Mod Sun, The Bird and the Bee, Donora, TeamMate, Vali, Boaz, and Goodbye Tomorrow. Rostrum has sold millions of albums and singles through its deal with Atlantic Records and Wiz Khalifa.

History

Rostrum released the first independent album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart since 1995 with Mac Miller’s “Blue Slide Park.” Creative digital strategy and a heavy touring philosophy resulted in building a rabid following for Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller. The result of Rostrum's efforts were strong social media presences, hundreds of thousands of concert tickets sold, and over half a billion views on both of their YouTube channels. Wiz Khalifa had his first Billboard Hot 100 #1 single with "Black and Yellow" in February 2011. In 2011, the label released Wiz Khalifa's Rolling Papers and Mac & Devin Go to High School, the latter being a collaborative album with Snoop Dogg, as well as Wiz Khalifa's ONIFC in December 2012. The label was named one of Vibe magazine's "Top 5 Labels to Watch in 2012" and XXL magazine's "Top Rising Indie Label in 2011". Grinberg was named #23 on The Source magazine's annual Power 30 list in its September 2011 issue.

Wiz Khalifa

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American recording artist, songwriter and actor. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008.

Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011. He followed that album with O.N.I.F.C. on December 4, 2012, which was backed by the singles "Work Hard, Play Hard" and "Remember You". Wiz released his fourth album Blacc Hollywood on August 18, 2014, backed by the lead single We Dem Boyz. In March 2015, he released "See You Again" for the soundtrack of the film Furious 7 and the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Record producer

A record producer (or music producer) has a very broad role in overseeing and managing the recording (i.e. "production") of a band or performer's music. A producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the project, selecting songs and/or session musicians, proposing changes to the song arrangements, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions, and supervising the entire process through audio mixing (recorded music) and, in some cases, to the audio mastering stage. Producers also often take on a wider entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts, and negotiations.

In the 2010s, the recording industry has two kinds of producers with different roles: executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the creation of music.

A music producer can, in some cases, be compared to a film director, with noted practitioner Phil Ek describing his role as "the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, like a director would a movie. The audio engineering [person] would be more the cameraman of the movie." Indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producer's job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music. The scope of responsibility may be one or two songs or an artist's entire album – in which case the producer will typically develop an overall vision for the album and how the various songs may interrelate.

Mac Miller

Malcolm James McCormick (born January 19, 1992), best known by his stage name Mac Miller, is an American rapper from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also a noted record producer under the pseudonym Larry Fisherman. Miller is also becoming known for taking on multiple alter-egos, under the aliases Delusional Thomas, Larry Lovestein and The Velvet Revival, respectively.

In early 2010, Miller signed a record deal with Pittsburgh-based indie record label Rostrum Records. He subsequently began recording his debut studio album Blue Slide Park, and released it on November 8, 2011. The album went on to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, making it the first independently distributed debut album to top the chart since Tha Dogg Pound's 1995 album, Dogg Food.

In early 2013, Miller launched REMember Music, his own record label imprint, named after a friend who died. Miller's second album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, was released on June 18, 2013. In January 2014, Miller announced he was no longer signed to Rostrum Records. In October 2014, it was reported Miller signed a record deal for him and his label REMember, with Warner Bros. Records.

Mod Sun

Dylan Smith (born March 10, 1987), known by the stage name Mod Sun (stylized as MOD SUN, an acronym standing for "Movement on dreams, stand under none"), is an American rapper, rock musician and poet from Bloomington, Minnesota.

History

Derek Smith was born on March 10, 1987 in Bloomington, Minnesota. When Smith turned 18, he changed his first name to Dylan. Smith's stage name, by which he is most known, is Mod Sun, an acronym that stands for "Movement on Dreams, Stand Under None." Mod Sun was formerly a member of the post-hardcore band Four Letter Lie, in which he played drums from 2004 to 2009. He left the band to pursue a rap career. He also was the drummer of the post-hardcore band Scary Kids Scaring Kids from 2009 until their disbandment in 2010. He drummed during their 2010 tour and opened shows during the tour as Mod Sun. He has released five mixtapes and three EPs throughout his solo career. Mod Sun's style of music is often described as "hippy hop." Mod Sun's debut album "Look Up" was released on March 10, 2015 through Rostrum Records.