Rostrum Records President Erika Montes on the Indie Label’s New Chapter: ‘If We Can Build, Let’s Build’
variety.comThania Garcia Rostrum Records, the Los Angles-based, Pittsburgh-born indie label that helped launch the careers of stars Wiz Khalifa and the late Mac Miller, is experiencing a rebirth.
The imprint has had a strong run since its founding in 2003. In November 2011, Miller, a then 19-year-old from Pittsburgh, and Rostrum made chart history when his debut album “Blue Slide Park” opened at No.
1 on the Billboard 200 as the first independently distributed debut album to have done so this century. To put that feat into perspective, Miller’s “Blue Slide Park” was in the company of juggernaut No.
1s from Adele (“21”), Coldplay (“Mylo Xyloto”) and Drake (“Take Care”). Looking back, however, the way Miller — who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2018 at the age of 26 — topped the albums chart without the aid of a typical breakthrough single, has played a huge role in the lasting legacy of Rostrum as a hip-hop haven.
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