Today we’d like to introduce you to Ari Beverly Carter.
Ari, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, I’m the youngest of three, with two older brothers, one on earth, one in heaven; their names on paper are Herman and Jermaine, but both “Big Head” to me. My brothers were 12 and 17 years old by the time I came along, so I’m kind of the accidental miracle of two amazing parents, Arlana and Herman Carter Jr.; who just celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary – woot woot!
My brother Jermaine gave me my first name and my parents handled the rest; Ariana Danielle-Beverly Carter. That’s a bit long for The Oscars and The Grammys, so I go by Ari Beverly Carter. Being from “Motown” I was of course introduced to music and the arts at a very young age. My earliest concert memories go back to being about five years old rocking out to The Gap Band, Stevie Wonder and various jazz artists with my ‘rents at Hart Plaza, famous venue in Downtown Detroit. My brothers were born in the late 70’s – early 80’s, so musically, the sounds in my household were a bit of everything: Motown classics, oldies, smooth jazz, old-school rap, r&b and more. This is probably why most of my friends call me the “auntie” of the crew.
Surrounded by great music, I soon discovered that I loved to sing, especially after my uncle, Tyrone, handed me a cassette tape of Erykah Badu’s debut album, Baduizm – now she’s my absolute favorite, hands down. I began songwriting at eight years old after being influenced by my oldest brother, who would write raps on the inside of shoeboxes, which I thought was the dopest thing ever. Music became my escape before I even knew that I was escaping something; my surroundings: poverty, struggle, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, etc.
In addition to music, I’d use books, films and TV as my imaginary way “out” until it would manifest in the physical. You see, my upbringing was a sprinkle of joy, a sprinkle of pain…“sunshine and rain” – something like what Frankie Beverly & Maze said. I didn’t have the luxury of growing up in the same house I was born in, tracking my height on the wall and so forth, but my parents always made it work and for that, I’m forever grateful. I’ve spent Christmas in a motel, had many nights of “oodles and noodles” for dinner, lived with no hot water or heat for several years, but it didn’t end there, these are merely experiences that we survived. And to keep it 100, when all you know is struggle, you don’t even know you’re struggling, it just is what it is – copacetic.
The good news is, I still got to be a kid for the most part. I rode my bike ‘til the street lights came on, hustled my brothers out of singles for the ice-cream truck, went to carnivals, attended The State Fair every summer, etc. And I’m from the city, baby, there’s always a reason to throw a backyard-BBQ, so there were plenty of those. Trust me, there’s nothing like a boogie down with your favorite cousins, talk about memories – woo! Although we may not have made it to the premieres, my family would hit the “Drive-In” and the “Dollar Show” on the weekends, which was an absolute blessing. I gained my ballin’ on a budget expertise very early and living in LA, it’s been a great tool! Yes, I still go to the dollar store before I go to the movies with my very large purse, moving on.
In 2007, my parents and I moved to Atlanta, GA in pursuit of better opportunities and a change of scenery. This was bittersweet. Mostly bitter in the beginning because this meant leaving my friends right before starting high school, leaving my brothers, leaving my family, and a major culture-shock. I’d never seen so many races in one room! School was interesting, we didn’t have to wear uniforms, the textbooks were new, and I began to make friends that didn’t look like me. Atlanta being the melting-pot that it is, introduced me to even more of the arts, culture and music. I put all the blame on Atlanta for my playlist shuffling from Jason Aldean to Gucci Mane – whoops! Freshman year at my performing arts high school is where my love for acting was birthed, in addition to my love for dance. Whilst taking on drama courses, I trained in ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop. Hip-hop being my favorite, probably because the rebel in me didn’t have to align my center and/or point my toes.
The little girl who walked around the house with a towel on her head, singing Erykah Badu and being fascinated by characters on the TV screen, always knew she wanted to be a “star”. In addition to studying acting and dance, I began recording songs at 15, preparing myself for the “big break” I’d made up in my head. Post-graduation, the plan was to move to Los Angeles and pursue my career in music, dance and acting – be a triple threat! We all know how life goes though, not as planned. By the time junior year came around, so did depression and the unexpected news that my oldest brother was ill. By senior year, fatally ill. So this shook things up a bit, and I didn’t feel like pursuing anything, instead I was in full-on survival mode. I decided I’d get into a good college, get a degree and a full-time job because that was more practical, right? After my favorite teacher, Tracey Enright, convinced me to visit LSU, I fell in love with the campus, submitted about a day before the deadline and headed to “Da Boot” to earn my degree.
I had an absolute ball in college, but this didn’t change the fact that miles away my family was going through it and my brother was fighting for his life. In 2013, my brother gained his wings, on our mom’s birthday, two days before my dad’s birthday, which is also their anniversary. But wait, this is no sob story – we celebrated his life to the fullest that weekend and still do every year, scratch that – everyday! Plot twist: this is where my depression settled a bit and my drive for life suddenly reappeared. The phrase “life is too short” had an entire new meaning to me and I began to LIVE again, for me and my brother. In 2014, I studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa and volunteered at the West African AIDS Foundation as an ode to him. This experience taught me so much about myself and most of all, was insanely humbling to the soul. I even started dancing again, studying West African Dance technique and Afro-beats.
In 2015, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and decided to move to Los Angeles in pursuit of those dreams I’d previously given up on. I moved with no plan, no job, just determined with a bunch of boxes and about $1,000 I’d saved serving and bartending during the summer. In less than a week, I landed my “dream PR job” and tried to juggle the corporate by day, artist by night lifestyle. All I can say is I was miserable and something had to give and surely, it did. My grandparents transitioned within two months of my move and once again, death reminded me that “life is too short”. I resigned from my corporate position and decided I would hustle and pursue my career by “hook or crook”, meaning I’d work miscellaneous gigs, babysit, bartend, serve tables, be an extra, Airbnb my apartment and sleep in my car, whatever would pay the bills until my dreams came to fruition.
After three years of “transitioning” to life in Los Angeles, consistently showing up for my therapy sessions, and choosing alkaline water over booze, I finally got to a point where I felt I could bet on myself. I started recording music again, resumed training with my acting coach, Alexia Robinson, studied hip-hop dance at Debbie Reynolds Studio, and became a member of Roxstarz Dance Crew; specializing in dancehall, soca, and African dance. I was on a mission and I wasn’t going to let anyone, mainly myself, stop me. For a while I’d try to juggle acting, dance, and music, but ultimately I had to make a tough decision, in effort to fine-tune my instrument and efficiently market my brand. I’ll always consider myself a triple-threat and I literally never leave the dance floor, but the focus of my career officially shifted to acting and music.
By mid-2018, I’d rewritten my goals, realized the power of manifestation and just went for it. I finally invested in professional headshots, attended several auditions, took unpaid and paid gigs, gained experience from supporting roles in web series and short films, and released my first single; “Ambitionz”, available on all streaming platforms (that was a self-plug). I even believed in myself enough to submit to agencies, which was definitely not the case upon my arrival to Los Angeles. In October 2018, I signed with Saint Agency and within two months, I booked my first National Commercial with Diet Coke. The director, Martin Werner, whom I’ll never forget, played Erykah Badu as soon as we started filming. I kid you not I choked on the first sip of my Diet Coke. This experience led to other great opportunities, such as campaigns for Footlocker, Nike and Major League of Soccer, where I shared the screen with music artists, A-trak and Dave 1 from Chromeo, which happens to be one of my absolute favorite duos.
My dream is to continue fusing my love for music and acting until I’m on the big screen, billboard charts and beyond. Well, technically I’m already on the big screen, according to my friends and fam who’ve been sending me videos, photos, words of support and encouragement. Word is, in addition to television, the Diet Coke Commercial is also showing at your local theater. However, I have yet to catch it myself because when you live in Los Angeles, cable is not as important as the light bill and while I love going to the movies, I have a fire stick that may or may not be jail broken (Shhhhh! I’m trying to watch a movie here…).
If things keep manifesting the way they are, this time next year, I’d love to be on set as a series-regular, or in my trailer on set for a Box-Office hit, while writing a song for your favorite artist. I always say that if I had a mission, it would be to feed all the babies in the world. Until then, I plan on living everyday to the fullest, spreading love and truth …because “there’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you” – Dr. Maya Angelou.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I wouldn’t trade my journey for anyone else’s. At the end of the day, I know every single experience will make for an interesting chapter in the book I’m sure I’ll write at some point. I would say one of the main struggles I’ve encountered are finances, especially coming from a low-income environment. When all you see is struggle around you, even when you gain the success you’ve always longed for, it can be a beast trying to convince yourself that it’s actually happening – “its happening, I’m sh*tting in the street!” (name that movie). Moving on, it can be tough believing that your present reality isn’t going to revert back to your past.
For example, I currently live in a beautiful studio in Hollywood, I have multiple commercial spots running and pretty much everyday someone is reaching out to express how proud they are of my success. However, I have to fight the negative thoughts, such as: “will I have to sleep in my car again?”, “will I make rent?” “will I make it any further?”, “did I just get lucky?”, etc. Speaking of thinking, taking care of my mental health has also been a battle. Where I’m from, going to therapy is not exactly the norm. So deciding to go against the grain and making my mental health a priority has taken a ton of courage and honestly, I’m still shedding layers of shame each session. I shout out my hometown every chance I get, but when I was a kid, just like many other predominantly-black neighborhoods, it was saturated with vices; liquor stores, fast-food joints, drugs, etc. I remember being a kid and having to drive miles for a fresh-fruit & veggie market, but on-foot I had access to any and everything with high-fructose corn syrup, catch my drift? So basically, I’d say making a lifestyle out of what my mind, body and spirit ingests, has been a challenge that I’ve actually enjoyed taking on.
Lastly, being in Los Angeles with my family miles and miles away in Detroit gets to me, as well as the many memories I shared with my brother, but I make sure I go home once or twice a year. And as far as my big bro, he always finds a way to pop up, so its all goodie.
What else should our readers know?
Ari Beverly Carter; Actress, Model, and Singer/Songwriter. What sets me apart from everyone else is that I’m the best person for the job. What’s the job? Being ME.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
You know it! I just signed with Coast to Coast Talent Group for commercial representation – super excited! And while my career is doing well commercially, it’s definitely time to tackle television AND the big screen, so I’m currently shopping around for a theatrical agent to add to my team. Musically, I’m working on a catalog to pitch to artists for placements, as well as an EP by yours truly. Modeling kind of just fell into my lap and I absolutely love it, so I’m speaking into existence that ya girl will be on a billboard on Sunset Boulevard pretty soon!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @aribeverlycarter
Image Credit:
Wes Klain | Anais & Dax
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