Anthony Parrino (born January 4, 1983), better known by his stage name Elite, is an American hip-hop and R&B record producer and recording artist best known for his work with J. Cole, Dreamville Records, and the Ruff Ryders recording label in the early 2000s. Elite is from Byram, Connecticut and resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Career

In mid 2000, Elite started working as an intern for Ruff Ryders Entertainment and eventually caught the ear of rapper Drag-On, placing his first produced song on the ''Cradle 2 the Grave'' soundtrack in 2002. Working as an in-house producer for Ruff Ryders, Elite went on to produce "Shoot Outs" for Jadakiss featuring Styles P from ''

Kiss of Death Kiss of Death may refer to: * Kiss of Judas, Judas's betrayal of Jesus with a kiss identifying him to his executioners * Kiss of death (mafia), a Mafia signal that someone has been marked for execution Film and television * ''Kiss of Death'' ...

'' as well as the " Why Remix" featuring Anthony Hamilton, Styles P,

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

, and Nas. In 2004 Elite graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from SUNY Purchase music conservatory studying Studio Production. In 2006 Elite produced "Wrong or Right (I'm Tired)" for

DMX Earl Simmons (December 18, 1970 – April 9, 2021), known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper and actor. He began rapping in the early 1990s and released his debut album ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' in 1998, to both critical acclaim ...

from the album '' Year of the Dog... Again''. In 2009, Elite began working with longtime friend and Roc Nation recording artist J. Cole on his mixtape '' The Warm Up''. Elite produced "Heartache" and a good portion of the mixtape was recorded at his home studio in New York. In 2010, Elite released his first mixtape entitled "The Groundwork" which was a collection of all of his production work up to that point. The mixtape featured an unreleased J. Cole song titled "Playground". Elite also produced "See World" for J. Cole off of his third mixtape, '' Friday Night Lights''. Elite co-produced J. Cole's first single "

Who Dat Who Dat (AAVE for "who is that?") can mean: * Who Dat?, the name of a support chant by fans of the New Orleans Saints * Who Dat (J. Cole song), "Who Dat" (J. Cole song) * Who Dat (JT Money song), "Who Dat" (JT Money song) * Who Dat (Young Jeezy son ...

" which was featured as an iTunes bonus on '' Cole World: The Sideline Story''. In 2011, Elite released his first project as an artist entitled "Awaken" which featured J. Cole,

Omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...

, Voli and Sean McVerry. Elite worked on multiple songs on J. Cole's second album ''

Born Sinner ''Born Sinner'' is the second studio album by American rapper and record producer J. Cole. It was released on June 18, 2013, by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation. The album serves as the follow-up to his ...

'', co-producing the title track "Born Sinner", and adding additional production to "Run Away". Cole sampled the song "Do She Got a Friend Tho?" from Elite's mixtape "Level Up" on the standout "Let Nas Down". In June 2013, J. Cole released his second single from ''Born Sinner'' titled "Crooked Smile" which was co-produced by Elite and features TLC. Elite worked together with J. Cole once more on the song "Folgers Crystals" from the 2015 work ''Revenge Of The Dreamers II'', he also produced the song "48 Laws" by Omen feat. Donnie Trumpet from the same album. In December 2016, J. Cole released his fourth studio album '' 4 Your Eyez Only'', which was co-executive produced by Elite. In April 2018, J. Cole released his fifth studio album KOD, which featured co-production from Elite on a majority of the album. In May 2019,

Ari Lennox Courtney Shanade Salter (born March 26, 1991), known professionally as Ari Lennox, is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C. She is the first female artist to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records. She began gaining reco ...

released her debut studio album

Shea Butter Baby ''Shea Butter Baby'' is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Ari Lennox. It was released on May 7, 2019, by Dreamville and Interscope Records. The album was executive produced by Dreamville producer Elite. In addition, the maj ...

, executive produced by Elite. Two of the album's lead singles (released in 2018) were produced by Elite; Whipped Cream and the title track

(feat. J. Cole), first appearing on the Creed II Soundtrack.

Discography

Mixtapes

*2010: ''The Groundwork'' *2011: ''Awaken'' *2013: ''Level Up''

Production discography

List of songs as producer or co-producer, with performing artists and other credited producers, showing year released and album name. * Indicates "Additional Production" credit + Indicates "Executive Production" credit

TV Scoring

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elite American hip hop record producers Living people Dreamville Records artists 1983 births