In just three short years, the 29-year-old songwriter/producer Sean Garrett has amassed a massive resume of smash hits, including Fergie's "London Bridge," Chris Brown's "Run It," the Pussycat Dolls' "Buttons" and Usher's Grammy-winning "Yeah!"

Garrett also contributed to several Grammy-nominated projects this year, including the albums of Beyoncé, Brown and Mary J. Blige, and Nelly's anthem to tooth bling, "Grillz."

Still, Garrett admits to hitting a roadblock with one particular artist as he tries to map out an artistic direction for the singer.

"I still haven't got a chance to do that record that I want to do, because the record company wants them to be at this place and I really want them to be over here," he says. "They really need an uptempo record that's crazy, but they're more of a balladeer."

Note to the record company and the unknown balladeer: Go with Garrett's instinct. He doesn't have the pedigree of say, a Timbaland or a Pharrell, but the hits he's penned put him in the same blockbuster category. If you want a No. 1 hit, few have a better batting average than Garrett these days.

"Sean is amazing. Sean is a combination of great melodies and great rhythms in his songwriting," says Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid, who discovered Garrett working in a studio in Garrett's hometown of Atlanta. "He's an incredible writer who is going to have a long career."

His mother, who died before his recent success, entered him in his first talent show before the age of 5, and from then on he was hooked on performing for crowds.

"When I was like 12, that's when I started telling my mom, I'm really going to be a big artist one day," says Garrett. "And she was like, 'Boy, what you need to be doing is hitting them books.' "

But he held on to his dream, and by 13, Garrett, an Army brat living in Germany, was singing for adult bands. Soon afterward, he had a record contract for a label overseas. But nothing came of it.

When he returned to the United States, he recalls, he landed another deal; but that also fell through, because of restructuring.

At his mother's insistence, he got enough education to have a side job as a mortgage broker, but he continued making demos in hopes of becoming a superstar. It was then when his talent as a songwriter started to get more attention.

He made a four-song CD to show off his skills as a writer: "Before I knew it, I had four publishing deals on the table."

One of them was with Reid's Hitco publishing company, which he eventually signed.

It didn't take long for Garrett to start pulling in millions of listeners. Garrett was one of the chief writers behind Usher's mega-smash "Yeah!" — the crunk jam, produced by Lil Jon. Soon after that, another crunk jam, Ciara's "Goodies," became a No. 1 hit, also with the Midas touch of Lil Jon.

Garrett's style is varied. His handiwork was on Destiny's Child ghettoblaster "Soldier," among other songs on the women's last album together; the bouncy, sexy "Check On It," from Beyoncé, as well as her paranoid "Ring the Alarm"; and Kelis' power anthem "Bossy."

He's also contributed to Gwen Stefani's latest album, is working with Enrique Iglesias, and is among the producers trying to craft a comeback record for tabloid queen Britney Spears.

Garrett admits that in some ways he has a definitive sound: "There's definitely some key elements that you're going to hear in a Sean Garrett record. One of them is WHOOP!" he says, imitating the high-pitched bells and whistles that seem to punctuate a Garrett song. "You're definitely going to hear that."