BilionAir Carter | Childhood Actor Turned Recording Artist Here To Spread That “GOOD GOOD”

It’s not every day you meet someone so full of life and good energy that they leave a lasting imprint in your mind. Insert BilionAir Carter, who does just that. Having been in the limelight since he was a child, the childhood actor, recording artist, and entrepreneur has made it his mission in life to stand for something good and spread positivity any chance he can. 

BilionAir Carter stems from the word ‘billionaire’, spelled with one L because he doesn’t believe in taking two L’s. The Air is spelled without an ‘e’ because the only way is up, and there’s no e in ‘air’. With Carter being his last name, he states, “I take myself as being the third Carter up. The first Carter is Shawn Carter, Jay-Z, then there’s Dwayne Carter, Lil Wayne. Now it’s me Hanif Carter, BilionAir Carter. I’m here to take over.”

Now, he’s bringing that same energy into his music. Growing up in Los Angeles meant being a product of two cultures: the Black and Latino community. Drawing influences from both, Carter returns with his newest release titled “Good Good,” a feel-good, high energy, uptempo bop that will have anyone who listens dancing and grooving to the beat. With his mission of uniting people of all walks of life and backgrounds, Carter refuses to be boxed into any one genre or lane—he’s here to be international.

Flaunt spoke with BilionAir Carter in downtown Los Angeles to discuss how he landed his big movie roles at a young age, the turning point in his music career, new single “GOOD GOOD,” his previous release “ENERGY,” studio essentials, his fashion sense, dream collabs, and more!

You’re a childhood actor, what movies were you in?

I was in The Santa Clause 2, Black Knight, Kingdom Come. I’ve been in dumb commercials. I was on Meet The Browns. I was one of the red carpet hosts with Wendy Williams in the Soul Train Awards. I’ve done a lot of different things here and there. Entertainment is in me, I have to entertain.

How long have you been in the limelight?

I started back in ‘94, been in SAG-AFTRA since ‘95. Man, I’ve been acting for so long.

Being so young, how'd you land those big films?

It’s crazy: manifestation. That’s when I was close to 10. I was manifesting the movie roles back then, I didn’t even know it! I was driving in front with my mom, I remember like it was yesterday. I said, “Mom, I want to be in movies.” She said, “Ask God.” Weeks later, I’m doing back to back: Santa Clause, Black Knight, Kingdom Come. I'm doing voiceover in movies, I’m still getting residuals from everything. Every time the movie’s played, I get money. 

Santa Clause 2, that whole football scene with the kids, that’s my voice. My voice is all in there. When that happened my mom said “See, now you have to be more specific. You said you wanted to be in the movies, but you didn’t say you wanted your face in the movies. My mom’s one of my biggest plugs. My mom went to UCLA, she was pregnant with me while there. She was one of the original writers on the NoMo paper, one of the biggest papers back in the day. That’s where I get my writing from, from her. She’s my biggest plug for sure, definitely.

When was the turning point you realized you wanted to do music?

My brother wanted to make beats, he’d already been showing interest in that. My uncle Buster, who’s a big-time gospel writer and producer, he did the whole Prince of Egypt soundtrack. The Motown family, his uncle was Norman Whitfield. He wrote a lot with The Temptations “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” big Motown stuff. I said “Unc, I got this bread. I want to spend 10 bands on getting this music equipment, I need your help.” Since my brother Mark wants to make beats, fuck it I’ll rap on it. I know I can make shit better than what’s out now. 

I know I have to put marketing in, “Fuck it, let me go out on a limb and full fledge do it. I still needed to entertain, that’s me. I hadn’t been acting or doing any celebrity basketball games. Fuck, a part’s missing because I’ve been doing this for so long. It’s crazy because my brother doesn’t even make beats right now, I’m the one who still kept going. But I helped him get into his entrepreneur run, which means the world to me. So Fuck it, let me do some music. A lot of the shit out is hella weak, I can definitely come in with a change in my own lane. I know I have the look and all the components to take over and rise. Fuck it, let me do it. We’re here now. 

“GOOD GOOD” out now, how are you feeling?

I made that in Atlanta. It was the last hour of my studio session at ABS Studios. It’s the main song I wanted to get done because I knew mixing it with Hispanic and black cultures together would always be stupid. We made it last year in September. A few months before Atlanta, we’re going through samples and that one hit my ear. Fuck, this is it! Let’s build this out. I really freestyled the whole shit, no writing at all in 45 minutes. It has no cussing. I’m big on bridging the gap between us as blacks and Hispanics, even minorities in general. That’s big here in LA, the Hispanic and black communities being they always want to direct us to hate each other and not come together. 

I said “nah, I know I look like it. Maybe let’s bring this together because I want to be international. I want to be bigger than the US, I want to be global. I see myself being on some Bob Marley stuff, being out there really taking over. I knew that’d be the scene. I have an Atlanta vlog on YouTube, my manager and I made sure we didn’t post this on purpose because I knew I needed a deal for it. My manager said “that last one you did, that’s the single.” I said “I know!” During that whole time until now, coming up to work.

The last video I did, “Energy,” is at 554K views This one, I had to do bigger. I picked the red cam last time, this time I did the Arri. Steady Cam Jazz who did Soulja Make It Clap is the same one who did “Good Good”, it’s all full circle. I have to go big and beyond. I put $60K into this whole push right now, so I’m not playing. I’m not going away. I’m big on financial literacy, leveraging credit, that’s me. I’m the hood corporate n*gga. I’m not on no Bandman Kevo shit, but people think that because of the knowledge. My level’s different because of my whole persona. Not knocking him but I see my lane. 

Talk about having little to no cussing in your songs.

Oh man, sometimes I write like that. I’m not even attempting to think about cursing, it’s just the way my pen’s moving and I’m flowing. I do relate and sometimes I’ll add the “fuck” or “n*gga” in there to stay relatable to the youth, because I understand it. But really, I want y’all to listen to my work. The shit I talk about, really rewind it and think “damn, this n*gga just spit a gem that I don’t even know. Hold up!” I want to ask questions about what I said. I want to spark those interviews to where you’re like “what did you say? What does that mean?” It’s crazy, that “2REAL” song was freestyled all the way through. It’s the same thing with “Good Good,” but on a more dancing relatable vibe. I’m excited man, we might be at 100K right now. We’re gonna keep rolling, I’m doing the campaign until the end of the year. I’m not stopping at all. 

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3 things you need in the studio?

Water, weed… I don’t need to drink all the time. Water, weed, my notepad, and I’m good. From the notepad, I bring it to the phone because it’s easier that way. I love writing on a notepad because it’s a better flow. I can move, scribble, scrabble, keep moving. [laughs] 

How would you describe your fashion sense?

I’m laid back. I love the sweats, sweatsuits, shorts, some J’s. I see myself eventually wearing all custom-made suits and sweatsuits throughout the day. When I’m lounging around, sweatsuits, shorts, things like that. I’m going to really have to transition to really be in that corporate level. Of course out here, it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors. I’ma have all the parts, all the components.

Any collabs in the works?

Right now, I have a couple features. Only one feature out right now with my boy Josey Bridge from Canada. I see myself really working with Drake. Both of us Scorpios together, I feel that. I got some shit coming up with my boy Marky D, he’s an artist from out here. We got some shit in the works. Other than that, people are afraid to go after and get a feature from me right now because I’m really taking higher steps. The heights I’m at right now, it takes a lot of people time to get there. I skipped it because I’ve sat and looked at what people are doing, what people have done. Okay, let me do it this way. 

I know it only takes one. If I put my all in that one and push it the whole time: I’ve got my face out there, I’m doing shows. When I’m meeting people, they love my vibe and energy. Come on, I want you here. That’s the type of person you are. When you fuck with someone, let me come. I’ll be there. I’m the type of person, I pay my way. If it’s any type of shit like that, I don’t have no problem paying someone their homage to say “okay you put me in this door, I appreciate you sis. Let’s do something, whatever the case may be. Whatever knowledge I got, I got you.” I run on that old school mentality, it’s not always about money. If someone’s energy is moving and doing something for themselves, if I can bring something to the table I got you.