# Chad Elliott

Chad James Elliott, also known by his stage name Dr. Ceuss, is an American songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He is best known for co-writing and co-producing Destiny's Child's 2000 single "Jumpin', Jumpin'", as well as Salt-N-Pepa's "Gitty Up", Marc Nelson's "15 Minutes", and 702's "Steelo", among others.

## Career
### Early career

In 1988, while on a promotional tour for rapper Jaz-O, Elliott met fellow record producer Irv Gotti. Elliott later introduced Gotti to DMX and the founders of Ruff Ryders Entertainment, the Dean brothers. In 1989, Gotti and Elliott produced the beat Born Loser for rapper DMX, which was one of DMX's earliest demos.
Elliott became a member of Swing Mob, a prolific collective of artists, songwriters, instrumentalists, and producers that converged in Teaneck, New Jersey and Rochester, New York during the mid-1990s, and was reportedly an early mentor of producer Jermaine Dupri. Elliott became a producer and instrumentalist for American R&B quartet Jodeci, while also frequently writing for other artists alongside fellow Swing Mob member Missy Elliott, including debut Raven-Symoné single "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of". In 1997, Elliott would contribute five songs to Salt-N-Pepa's fifth album Brand New, including lead single "R U Ready". He would also oversee the A&R direction of R&B girl-group Shades' eponymous debut album for Motown Records. In 1999, Elliott produced major single "15 Minutes" for former Boyz II Men member Marc Nelson, reaching the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #4 on the R&B charts.

### Jumpin', Jumpin'

Elliott received a phone call from Columbia Records A&R Teresa LaBarbera Whites, who wanted him to meet "this great group in Houston" prior to the release of their debut album. He flew to Houston and met for dinner with the group (Destiny's Child) and their manager Mathew Knowles, but was unable to send any productions in time for their album. Elliott, alongside co-writer Rufus Moore and co-producer Jovonn Alexander, subsequently sent a disc of written tracks for potential inclusion on their second album. Elliott was compiling productions for his own rap project at the time, and accidentally sent one of his songs (with no lyrics attached) on the same disc. Beyoncé heard the song, began writing to it, and Mathew Knowles sent a rough draft to Elliott, who was impressed with the melodic, syncopated-rap delivery, and the "democratic" message addressed to both men and women. "Jumpin', Jumpin'", the completed product, would secure a placement on blockbuster album The Writing's on the Wall alongside another co-written Elliott song ("If You Leave"), was selected as the fourth and final single of the campaign, and would ultimately become Elliott's highest-peaking and highest-selling song in multiple global markets.

### Later career

Elliott became an A&R for Sony Music Urban / Columbia Records, coordinating Jagged Edge's eponymous fifth album (2006), Noel Gourdin's 2008 debut album After My Time, Lyfe Jennings' 2008 album Lyfe Change, as well as "I'm Grown", the second single from Star Search winner Tiffany Evans' 2008 eponymous debut album.
In 2022, Elliott sold the production rights of his 2-song Destiny's Child catalog to royalty asset management company ICM for an undisclosed sum.

## Selected songwriting and production credits

Credits are courtesy of Discogs, Tidal, Apple Music, and AllMusic.
| Title | Year | Artist | Album |
| "A Groove (This Is What U Rap 2)" | 1990 | Jaz-O | To Your Soul |
| "I'll Smoke You" | 1990 | Jaz-O | To Your Soul |
| "Flag of the Mahdi" | 1990 | Jaz-O | To Your Soul |
| "Black Man in Charge" | 1990 | Jaz-O | To Your Soul |
| "I Love Your Smile (Hakeem's Mix)" | 1991 | Shanice | Inner Child |
| "You Can't See What I Can See" | 1992 | Heavy D & The Boys | Heavy Hitz |
| "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" (Featuring Missy Elliott) (#68 US, #47 R&B) | 1993 | Raven-Symoné | Here's to New Dreams |
| "Let's Go Through the Motions" (#65 US, #31 R&B) | 1993 | Jodeci | Who's the Man? (soundtrack) |
| "Candy Man" | 1994 | LL Cool J | Jason's Lyric (soundtrack) |
| "Rodeo Style" (#55 R&B) | 1994 | Jamecia Bennett & Mike Jackson | Jason's Lyric (soundtrack) |
| "You Are The Best" | 1994 | Smoothe Sylk | Smoothe Sylk |
| "Can I Make It Up To You" | 1994 | Groove U | Tender Love |
| "Don't Let It Slip Away" | 1994 | Groove U | Tender Love |
| "Dance 4 Me" (#25 R&B) | 1995 | Christopher Williams | Not A Perfect Man |
| "This Is Not A Goodbye" (#85 R&B) | 1995 | Subway | Good Times |
| "No Airplay" | 1995 | LL Cool J | Mr. Smith |
| "Steelo" (Featuring Missy Elliott) (#32 US, #12 R&B, #41 UK, #23 NZ) | 1996 | 702 | No Doubt |
| "Intro" (Featuring Puff Daddy) | 1996 | Total | Total |
| "Whose Is It? (Interlude)" | 1996 | Total | Total |
| "Definition of a Bad Girl (Interlude)" | 1996 | Total | Total |
| "Why Why Why" | 1996 | Horace Brown | Horace Brown |
| "Ooh, Ooh Baby" (Featuring Missy Elliott) (#81 R&B) | 1996 | Taral Hicks | This Time |
| "Get U Open" | 1996 | Skin Deep | Get U Open |
| "Sleep Over Friend" | 1996 | Skin Deep | Get U Open |
| "Farewell" | 1996 | Assorted Phlavors | Assorted Phlavors |
| "Champagne" (#23 UK, #68 AUS, #15 NZ, #98 GER, #15 SWE) | 1996 | Salt-N-Pepa | Bulletproof (soundtrack) |
| "R U Ready" (#24 UK, #35 GER) | 1997 | Salt-N-Pepa | Brand New |
| "Good Life" | 1997 | Salt-N-Pepa | Brand New |
| "Say Ooh" | 1997 | Salt-N-Pepa | Brand New |
| "Gitty Up" (#50 US, #31 Rap) | 1997 | Salt-N-Pepa | Brand New |
| "Boy Toy" | 1997 | Salt-N-Pepa | Brand New |
| "Why" | 1997 | Shades | Shades |
| "Love Never Dies" | 1997 | Shades | Shades |
| "Last to Know" | 1997 | Shades | Shades |
| "I Believe" | 1997 | Shades | Shades |
| "What Are We Gonna Do?" (#102 R&B) | 1997 | Ronnie Henson | Ronnie Henson |
| "Come On" | 1997 | Boyz II Men | Evolution |
| "Out Of Sight (Yo)" (#97 US, #52 R&B) | 1998 | Rufus Blaq | Credentials |
| "Tell Me, Tell Me" (Featuring Before Dark) | 1998 | Tyrese Gibson | Tyrese |
| "What'cha Gonna Do?" | 1998 | Monifah | Mo'hogany |
| "You And Me" | 1998 | Miss Jones | The Other Woman |
| "Need Somebody" | 1998 | Miss Jones | The Other Woman |
| "Raindown" | 1998 | Miss Jones | The Other Woman |
| "Turn You On" | 1998 | Queen Latifah | Order in the Court |
| "15 Minutes" (#27 US, #4 R&B) | 1999 | Marc Nelson | Chocolate Mood |
| "If You Leave" (Featuring Next) | 1999 | Destiny's Child | The Writing's on the Wall |
| "Jumpin', Jumpin'" (#3 US, #8 R&B, #4 UK, #2 AUS, #6 NZ, #31 GER, #41 FR) | 1999 | Destiny's Child | The Writing's on the Wall |
| "The Brick Track Versus Gitty Up" (#22 UK, #16 AUS, #4 NZ, #64 GER, #85 FR) | 1999 | Salt-N-Pepa | The Best of Salt-N-Pepa |
| "Dear Diary" | 2000 | 3LW | 3LW |
| "Freak In Me" (Hidden Track) | 2000 | Next | Welcome II Nextasy |
| "Fix Me" (With Parle & Eve) | 2000 | Jadakiss | Shaft (soundtrack) |
| "Hater" | 2002 | Isyss | The Way We Do |
| "Make U Wanna Stay" (Featuring Joe Budden) | 2002 | Kelly Rowland | Simply Deep |
| "Sickalicious" (Featuring Missy Elliott) | 2003 | Fabolous | Street Dreams |
| "Good Luck Charm" (#73 US, #13 R&B) | 2006 | Jagged Edge | Jagged Edge |
| "Dog Love" (Featuring Amerie & Janyce) | 2006 | DMX | Year of the Dog... Again |
| "On My Mind" (With Sidepiece) (#17 US Dance, #57 UK) | 2022 | Diplo | Diplo |

### Executive-produced projects

Albums with more than 90% Chad Elliott production/songwriting credits, showing year released and album name :
| Album | Artist | Year | Label |
| Credentials | Rufus Blaq | 1998 | A&M Records |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Ceremony | Award | Result | Ref |
| 2001 | SESAC Awards | Most Performed R&B/Hip Songs (Jumpin', Jumpin') | Won | |
| 2002 | SESAC Awards | Most Performed Pop Songs (Jumpin', Jumpin') | Won | |