For Corte Ellis, a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, the gift of music revealed itself almost as early as he was able to speak. His mother's first memory of his attempts to sing goes back to the age of two. He was, after all, the son of two singers, the offspring of a family of musicians. By elementary school, Corte was sharing his gift with the world, thanks to his involvement with his church choir and school plays. By junior high school, he was ready to start working. Already a popular student, Corte was recruited by four classmates to become one of the lead singers of their R&B group New Image. It wasn’t long before Corte, motivated by a desire to do more than sing songs already popularized by other artists, started writing original music for his crew. And thus began the symbiotic relationship between his aspirations as a singer and his career as a songwriter. Corte soon realized that music offered him something he had searched for his whole life.As the youngest of three boys, with three younger sisters behind him, he was constantly seeking a better life for his family. Like many youngsters of his generation, he was, of course, faced with the temptation of relying on the streets. But with an undeniable talent, Corte found many in his community willing to support his desire to succeed in music. By the time he graduated high school and was ready to kick start his career, however, he lost his most adamant supporter to prison Deion aka Buzy . But as they say: when one door closes, another is bound to open. Days later, a talent competition at a local nightclub turned into Corte’s first taste of statewide exposure. Under the tutelage of the club’s owner, Monty Marshall, he recorded his first independent album, even garnering regional airplay with the song “Independent Woman.” His growing reputation led to an apprenticeship of sorts with producer Will Skillz, who would teach Corte the art of creating a record. And that relationship would become the foundation of his successful partnership with New Jersey-based production duo the Soul Diggaz. Since their first major label placement with the song “Penny Candy,” for RCA recording group Strong, the trio has enjoyed continuous success. Despite the ups-and-downs of the recording industry, their incredible talent and impeccably maintained relationships have allowed them to work with industry heavyweights. Among his credits, Soul Diggaz have written for Beyonce , Monica , Britney Spears, Katherine McPhee and Jennifer Hudson. Still, Corte kept his goal of succeeding as a solo performer and recording artist in sight. He has studied with some of the best in the business. He learned the basics from such fellow Virginia talents as Teddy Riley and Missy Elliott. He learned the art of story-telling through lyric and melody from the great Clive Davis. He picked up the skill of offering fans relatable, catchy tunes from Diddy, and from singer/songwriter Kara DioGuardi he learned the idiosyncrasies of Pop music. Fans of Bravo’s hit reality show “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” might recognize him for his appearances over two seasons, creating music for Melissa Gorga. While he continues to create hit songs for some of the biggest names in music today, Corte is Hard at work Crafting songs for one of the Largest labels in the industry Cash Money Records and there talent roster, hand picked by SLIM Ronald Williams himself after Corte's departure from SRC RECORDS in 2011.Corte Ellis has also been named the Associate Executive Producer on the upcoming Jill Scott Release. While he is excited to finally have the opportunity to be the voice that will bring his words to the world, he realizes that, even with his many previous successes, this is only the beginning of a career as an entertainer,executive and songwriter for the ages..