Late last week, up and coming MC Boaz officially signed to Rostrum Records. It had been a long time coming for the official partnership between the Pittsburgh rapper and his hometown label.

"It was just the right time with the expansion of the resources and everything, it made things a lot easier," Boaz told XXLMag.com. "It wouldn't have made sense for me to go anywhere else. It's such a powerhouse, and me being from Pittsburgh. It was just all love. It came together at the right time. I had a few meetings with a few different labels, but with them knowing me personally, and which direction my career wanted to go in, it made it a comfortable fit. We basically starting from this ground level. They got this indie hustle and they know what it takes."

"I'm very excited that Boaz is joining the Rostrum family," Rostrum President Benjy Grinberg said in a statement. "I have been a big fan of Bo and his music for many years, and I'm looking forward to working with him in a more substantial way."

Boaz has collaborated with both of Rostrum's flourishing rap acts—Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller—in the past, and is excited to now officially be part of the team. "With a situation like that, with the artists they got signed now being two of the most influential artists in the game, it's gonna open up a lot of avenues," he continued. "It's a lot of work ahead. I wanna be able to stand up to the plate and go hard. Me and Mac chopped it up about two weeks ago at The Bamboozle Festival. It's been in the works for the last couple months, so it's something we all knew was gonna happen, it's just a matter of when."

He's not about to relax now that the ink has dried, though. On the contrary, Boaz is ready to build his momentum, as he'll be joining Wiz and Mac for the Under The Influence of Music Tour this summer, and dropping his free project, Bases Loaded before the fall. "Right now, with the opportunity that presented itself, it's looking good from all angles: promotion, marketing, booking," Bo said. "I'm at the plate with everything in front of me, I just gotta swing and take this shit out the park." —Adam Fleischer (@AdamXXL)

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