In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2003, Rostrum was an independent label based in Los Angeles. There are a variety of musicians in Rostrum such as DC. Among the artists included are The Bird and the Bird, The Bird and the Bee, The Don, Mod Sun and Cornelius and The Bird and the Bee. For seventeen years, Rostrum has sold millions of albums and tens of millions of songs, always looking for new opportunities for its artists to get their music out of them and build lifelong relationships with audiences. Rostrum artists have been nominated for a total of eleven Grammy Awards.
In 2004, when the rapist featuring a mix of young Pittsburgh artists piqued his imagination, Wiz Khalifa first caught Grinberg's attention. When Benjy Grinberg first saw the 16-year-old artist, he immediately knew he wanted to work with him. "You couldn't see he was a diamond in the rough if he hadn't fully grown, and could become exceptional with a little polish, coaching and support," Hitquarters later told him. Soon after, Khalifa signed with the label and began developing artists for seven years. Two albums have been released on Wiz Khalifa's Rostrum label:Show and Prove in 2006 and Deal or No Deal in 2009.
Both started a series of free mixtapes, which quickly attracted a lot of Khalifa, to build on the momentum of Deal and No Deal. On June 14, 2010, Wiz Khalifa's best-known mixtape was "Kush and Orange Juice." On Twitter, the mixtape became the number one trending topic with the hashtag kush and orange juice, and with Khalifa's devoted fan base "Kush and Orange Juice Download" ranking #1 in search trends Google-style. In early 2010, Mac Miller signed Rostrum Records. Grinberg met Mac Miller with Wiz Khalifa at ID Labs in Pittsburgh.
Grinberg started giving Miller advice but wasn't really interested in committing to his career until Miller started working on the KIDS mixtape where, as he later told HitQuarters, he saw a maturation in his sound and attitude towards music. Miller had started to catch the eye of a number of record labels at the time, but due to his closeness and friendship with Wiz Khalifa he chose Rostrum. In August 2010, the KIDS label was released. Children, a 1995 film, inspired the mixtape. Miller's debut album, the Incredibly Dope Tour, sold out to all venues and was a big hit in late 2010.
After graduation, Grinberg traveled to New York to seek employment. Grinberg officially started with music three months after his trip to New York as Antonio "LA" Reid's assistant. After his success at Arista Records, Grinberg wanted to try his hand at finding and producing his own artists. Grinberg's emphasis on training artists is attributable to Rostrum's success and resilience.
The label has also been awarded Vibe magazine's 'Top 5 Labels to watch in 2012' and XXL magazine's 'Top Rising Indie label in 2011.' Grinberg was ranked #23 on the annual Power 30 list in the September edition. 2011 from The Source magazine. In 2013, Grinberg was named "40 under 40" by Billboard. It is also included in the Grammy Awards voting process.
