Working under the tutelage of music luminaries like Quincy Jones and Tyler Perry, Terrell Carter is poised for his own musical success with his new single ” Where Is The Love/Loves In Need Of Love”. This author/advocate/vocalist feels that it is his duty and obligation to speak up and speak out. Pulling influences from artists like The Clark Sisters and Stevie Wonder, Carter is the kind of artist that the so many need today. I caught up with him as his new music premiered to discuss his history in the music industry, why being an advocate is so important to him, and how some of his dream collaborations might be.
Michael Cook: Terrell, what made you want to create such a passion project like “Loves In Need Of Love?”
Terrell Carter: What made me want to create such a passion project such as “Loves In Need Of Love” is the message behind it. Knowing that after all of these years, we are still fighting the same fight is just sad. It brought me to tears while I was out protesting, knowing that I could have held up the exact same sign that my grandmother held up in the 60’s and it would have still been relevant today. That breaks my heart. I didn’t just have to say something, I have to do everything in my power to be a part of this movement. And this is just one of them.
MC: What is the meaning of not just the track, but the imagery in the socially conscious video?
TC: The meaning in the socially conscious video shows togetherness from all sides of the spectrum. That’s the only way that this is going to actually work. We need to not forget, but give each other clean enough slates that there is no resentment and hate. Anyone that is hating someone because of race today is just doing it because of what they were taught. If we had just let our generation and the generations after us, grow up with no knowledge of the past and the racial difference they wouldn’t be fighting the same embarrassing fight.
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MC: When did you know that music would be the path that you would be following?
TC: I knew that at a very early age. I have always loved music and singing. Growing up in church It always appealed to me. By my teenage years, I was singing with a national recording choir and already had recorded with them nationally. After that I just never stopped. I went on to work with some of the greatest artists, musicians and producers of our time. From Tyler Perry, Quincy Jones and Beyonce. I’m so grateful for so many opportunities that I’ve gotten to share my gift with the world.
MC: Who do you see as your biggest musical influences and why?
TC: Definitely Stevie Wonder, what a genius! Just listening to his lyrics and melodies… Not being able to see has made is vision limitless. For someone that has never laid eyes on something or someone, he can perfectly communicate and feed the soul. This song “Love’s In Need of Love Today”; just the tittle alone paints the picture before you hear one note of the song. He is truly one of my top musical Influences.
Also, Karen Clark-Sheard from The Clark Sisters. Karen Clark was just so before her time. Coming from a musical family being the youngest, she soaked it all up and just took her musical gift to a place where some forty years later they are just now doing what she was doing as a kid. The daringness, the range, and unstoppable drive behind her voice is unmatched and has been for years. The control she has while singing notes in the sky has blown me away since I was a kid
MC: Musically, where do you want to take your career and music? Any dream collaborations that you would like to do?
TC: I want to take my career to a place that the masses can hear the message of hope that I so often share in my songs. I love to see messages that I get from people on instagram (@terrellmusic) and Facebook telling me how much my songs have touched them. I just released a song “Good Friends” also, it is a song that was written for a friend of mine that passed away. The message tailored for my friend is still so universal. “I’m gonna miss you, really gonna miss you, You were that friend who dealt with all my issues. There was. No time to even say goodbye. You had my back, rather I was wrong or right. Good Friends are hard to come by” I would love to do a collaboration with Stevie Wonder and of course, Kare Clark-Sheard wow just wow. That would be amazing.
MC: What do I celebrate most about yourself?
TC: Being triumphant over my adversities and my origin. I wrote a book about my story called Problem Child, which is out now and available on Amazon. My mom was eleven years old when she had me. She was raped and molested by my father who was twenty three and from the same family. Growing up under a cloud of secrets, abuse and total chaos. This all made me the man I am today. Although this created some things that I will internally fight for the rest of my life, I’m grateful for every part of it. This is what gives me the compassion that no matter how many movie roles, books or albums I record, I will never be too far to heal the hearts of the people that so desperately need healing and refuge from some of life’s impossibly hurtles. I couldn’t have asked for a better platform during this time to do just that. I want to thank The Impulse Group, Brad Hammer Productions, Instinct and everyone else associated with this wonderful project for giving me the opportunity to help fight the fight and continue to spread the work that hate has just caused problems in this world but has never solved one. Love is truly love and BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!
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