Carter Ace

For as much as Carter Ace’s music may draw on international inspiration, the execution of his genre-agnostic alchemy remains damn near intergalactic. The Cameroonian American singer, songwriter, rapper, and artist seamlessly integrates otherworldly R&B, hard-hitting hip-hop, neo-soul drip, space funk, and even a little punk straight from the San Fernando Valley into a simmering signature style cooked up by his equally badass live band. Born in Los Angeles, he split his childhood between the United States and West Africa. With dad an artist and mom a dancer in his band, music surrounded Carter. During middle school in the Valley, he started to perform anywhere and everywhere with a stage, cutting his teeth at all-age venues, restaurants, and underground gigs. At the same time, he studied the likes of OutKast, Kanye West, and D’Angelo. Along the way, he assembled a group of likeminded players (who are with him to this day), including guitarist Fahem Erfan, keyboardist John Redwood, drummer Gio Alford, and bassist Daniel Durant. Grinding nonstop, he started to put up numbers on singles such as “If It Don’t Work, “I Think I’m Normal,” and “Come Back 2 Me,” landing a deal with Joe Jonas’s Let’s Get It Records and Republic Records during 2020. After generating 40 million streams independently and earning looks from GQ, Flaunt, and more, this buzzing iconoclast continues to bust every sonic border on a series of 2023 singles led by “SEASON ONE.”