In a time when viral hooks and algorithm-chasing often dictate the sound of R&B, D. Carter is taking a different path—one paved with vulnerability, patience, and purpose. The Trenton, NJ-born and Atlanta-based singer-songwriter’s new EP, Love First, didn’t begin with release dates or playlists in mind. It started with grief. With late-night piano sessions. With the quiet unraveling of relationships that no trophy shelf could fix. The result is a body of work that feels less like a product and more like a personal offering—raw, reflective, and resonant.
Love First draws from the spirit of early 2000s R&B, but it’s no nostalgia act. Carter threads the DNA of artists like Jagged Edge and Brian McKnight through modern, spacious production—think ambient synths, textured harmonies, and lyrics that land like confessions. Rather than relying on clichés, Carter captures the subtleties of emotional fallout with rare clarity. “I wasn’t trying to write songs—I was just trying to feel something honest,” Carter shares. And it shows. Every verse feels lived in, every hook unforced.
There’s a careful duality in the EP’s design: Love First is easy to listen to, but hard to ignore. Its melodies invite you in, but its lyrics linger long after. That intentional contrast has caught the attention of curators across genres. Carter’s work sits comfortably on Neo-Soul Essentials and Timeless R&B playlists, but more than any label, it belongs to those rare soundtracks that meet listeners where they are—especially when they can’t find the words themselves.
The journey to this project wasn’t polished. Carter began as a self-producing bedroom artist, slowly carving a lane for himself in the independent scene. Love First feels like a culmination of those years, not just in its sound but in its spirit. And yet, Carter isn’t settling in. His next project—a surprise pivot into country music—signals an artist more interested in exploration than expectation. “I’m chasing whatever feels true,” he says, “even if it scares me.”
Rooted in Trenton’s quiet resilience and shaped by the emotional weight of adulthood, Love First is more than a debut EP—it’s a reintroduction to what R&B can still do when stripped of its filters. In a streaming era full of fast hits, D. Carter delivers something rare: music that whispers what we’re afraid to say out loud.
Stream Love First now—the kind of R&B you don’t just hear, but feel.