Mel Carter (businessman)

Last updated
Mel Carter
Born1985 (age 39–40)
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Nationality Trinidadian and Tobagonian
Occupation(s) Businessman, record executive, podcaster
Years active2015 – present
Children1

Mel Carter (born January 14, 1985) is an American businessman and music executive, originally from Trinidad and Tobago. [1] He is the former Senior Vice President of A&R at Republic Records [2] [3] and is the founder of Second Estate Records, [4] a record label distributed by Warner Records since 2022. [5] Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including 2Rare, [6] City Morgue, Nobu woods, Kill Dyll, and others.

Contents

Carter is the owner of the franchise development company, Melanbo, which most notable has acquired dozens of Bojangles fast food franchises across the United States with Kevin "Coach K" Lee. [7] [8] He is the co-host of the finance-based podcast called “Business Untitled” with Mike Novogratz and Dave Barry.

Early life

Carter was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to Clifton Carter and Stacy Jenkinson. He emigrated with his mother and sister to the United States in 1997, settling in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Mel’s mother passed away in 2016 after a 17-year battle with lupus. Between the 7th grade and 10th grade, Mel was kicked out of four different schools before ultimately dropping out. [1]

Career

Music industry

Carter began his career as a talent manager for artists that were later signed to Republic Records, Atlantic Records, Roc Nation, and Interscope. [1]

Carter is the Founder of Hikari-Ultra, a joint venture with Republic Records that discovered the music group City Morgue. In 2018, Carter began working with Republic Records, as Senior Vice President of A&R, overseeing the Hikari-Ultra imprint. In his work at Hikari-Ultra, Carter was instrumental in developing artists, like Cee Key. He is the first Senior Vice President of Republic Records without a high school diploma. [9] During his tenure at Republic, the label received Billboard Magazine’s Label of the Year award.

Carter exited Republic Records in October 2022 to launch his label Second Estate Records, which is distributed by Warner Records, where he also acts as a consultant to the Global A&R team along with Steve Carless (President of A&R) and Karen Kwak (EVP and Head of A&R). Carter received gold records for 2Rare and NLE Choppa, while also getting 2Rare named a member of XXL’s coveted 2023 Freshmen Class list. [10]

Other ventures

Carter is the owner of the franchise development company, Melanbo, named after his daughter Milan. Quality Control Music’s founder and COO, Kevin "Coach K" Lee is a known investor of Melanbo. [11] They’ve acquired more than 32 Bojangles fast food franchise stores. [12] Carter is a former investor in Nas’ restaurant group, Sweet Chick, [1] but later sold his shares due to conflict of interest with Bojangles.

Alongside Steven Manocherian, Dan Manocherian, and Mike Novogratz, Carter co-founded Adansonia in 2023, a real estate firm focused on developing affordable housing in the New York tri-state area.

Carter is the co-host of a finance-based podcast called “Business Untitled” with Mike Novogratz, [13] founder of the technology-financial services firm Galaxy Digital, and real estate developer Dave Barry. [14] Notable podcast guests have included J. Christopher Burch, Orlando Wharton, Harvey Spevak, Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wes Edens, Coodie & Chike, Snoop Dogg, [15] John Foley, Ginny Wright, Dean Phillips, Eugene Remm, Anthony Scaramucci, Barry Bayat, Drea de Matteo, Christian Angermayer, Neil Blumenthal, Nate Parker, Mayor Eric Adams, Gregg Renfrew, Davido, Tom Szaky, and Gabe Whaley.

Personal life

Carter has been a member of Robin Hood Foundation’s Leadership Council since 2023. [16] He has one child, a daughter born in 2006. He has one sister. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Executive Spotlight: Mel Carter, SVP Of A&R At Republic Records, Wants To Inspire Young Black Executives at Forbes; by Rianna Turner; published October 29, 2020; retrieved December 2, 2024
  2. ↑ Republic Records Names Mel Carter Senior VP of A&R at Variety; published November 18, 2019; retrieved December 2, 2024
  3. ↑ Executive Turntable: Republic Loses A&R SVP to Restaurant Biz; UnitedMasters Hires 6 Execs at Billboard; by Chris Eggertsen; published September 23, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  4. ↑ Mel Carter moves forward while looking back at Amsterdam News; by Karen Juanita Carrillo; published July 12, 2023; retrieved December 2, 2024
  5. ↑ WARNER RECORDS SETS JOINT VENTURE WITH MEL CARTER’S SECOND ESTATE RECORDS at Warner Music Group; published October 3, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  6. ↑ Mel Carter Signs Philly Rapper 2Rare With $800K on the Spot at Source Magazine; by Shawn Grant; published October 4, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  7. ↑ Quality Control’s Coach K And Music Exec Mel Carter Strike Historic Deal As Bojangles Owners at Vibe Magazine; by Armon Sadler; published December 2, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  8. ↑ Coach K & Mel Carter to Build 14 New Atlanta Bojangles Restaurants at Empower Atlanta Magazine; published December 12, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  9. ↑ Without a College Education, Mel Carter Used Life Lessons and People Skills to Become a Successful Music Exec at Black Enterprise; by Cedric Thornton; published September 21, 2020; retrieved December 2, 2024
  10. ↑ Mel Carter signs 2Rare for $800k on the spot at Remixd Magazine; published October 5, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  11. ↑ Coach K and Mel Carter now own the largest Black-owned franchise at Bojangles at Revolt; by Kevin Keise; published December 2, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  12. ↑ How Music Executive Mel Carter Added Fifth Largest Bojangles Franchisee In History To His Resume at Afro Tech; by Samantha Dorisca; published October 26, 2022; retrieved December 2, 2024
  13. ↑ Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz Says Hard Assets Key For Building Wealth For Those in 30s And 40s: 'I Still Like Bitcoin' at Benzinga.com; published April 11, 2024; retrieved December 2, 2024
  14. ↑ Board of Trustees David Barry, Co-Chair at Liberty Science Center; retrieved December 2, 2024
  15. ↑ Snoop Dogg Reveals How Much He Earned From 1B Spotify Streams at HipHopDX; by Shawn Setaro; published December 8, 2023; retrieved December 2, 2024
  16. ↑ Governance and Leadership at Robin Hood Annual Report; published 2023; retrieved December 2, 2024
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