Founder/Chief Executive Officer/Operations/Pianist and Composer

Benjamin Carow is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Black Rose Audio, as well as a seasoned pianist, composer, audio engineer, and artist manager. With over 29 years of experience as a pianist and more than a decade of professional engineering expertise, Benjamin has mastered the art of blending musical precision with emotional storytelling. Since 2013, he has engineered, mixed, and produced projects across multiple genres, earning a reputation for his meticulous ear and cinematic sound design. As both a composer and technical visionary, he ensures that every Black Rose Audio production meets the highest creative and sonic standards. In addition to his executive role, Benjamin manages the career of Chalkline, guiding the artistic vision and growth of one of the company’s founding artists. His leadership reflects the core of Black Rose Audio’s philosophy: crafting music that resonates, challenges, and endures.

Co-Founder/Chief Creative Director/ Lyricist and Artist

Nikolay “Chalkline” Sharp is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director of Black Rose Audio, as well as a lyricist, recording artist, and visionary storyteller. Known for his cinematic approach to songwriting, Chalkline fuses theater, rap, and dark comedy to create emotionally charged narratives that challenge, shock, and inspire. His writing style blends intricate rhyme schemes, theatrical delivery, and raw vulnerability—balancing introspection with unfiltered honesty. A formally trained actor and performer with a background in stage and television acting, Nikolay brings a deep sense of character and narrative structure to every project he leads. His body of work, including the Shock Therapy EP and Silence (feat. Verity Van Dams), has been praised for its fearless originality and psychological depth. As Creative Director, he oversees the artistic direction of Black Rose Audio, ensuring every production reflects the company’s mission.

John Estrada

John Estrada serves as A&R Department Manager at Black Rose Audio, overseeing the discovery of new and emerging artists for the label. In this role, he guides projects from early demos through studio sessions and final delivery, ensuring each release is creatively authentic and commercially focused.

As a manager, John leads the A&R team in scouting talent, shaping artistic direction, and coordinating closely with production, marketing, and leadership to align every project with the label’s vision. He is known for his ear for new sounds, his understanding of current music trends, and his ability to spot long-term potential in artists at an early stage.

Outside of his executive role, John is a rap artist in his own right, bringing firsthand experience from the studio and stage into his work with other performers. That dual perspective helps him earn artists’ trust, communicate in their language, and balance creative risk with strategic decision-making on each release.