| Mel Carter | |
| Birth Place: | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Nationality: | Trinidadian and Tobagonian |
| Occupation: | Businessman, record executive, podcaster |
| Years Active: | 2015 – present |
| Credits: | , which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |
| Works: | , which produces label "Works"; or by |
| Label Name: | , which produces label "Label(s)" --> |
| Children: | 1 |
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.
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.
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]
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]
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.
Carter has been a member of Robin Hood Foundation’s Leadership Council since 2023.[16] He has one child, a daughter born in 2006.