# Ester Dean

Esther Renay Dean (born April 15, 1986), known professionally as Ester Dean, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. She rose to prominence as a pop songwriter in the late 2000s and wrote numerous hit songs for singers including Rihanna, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé through the 2010s. She has acted in numerous films, including the 2012 musical comedy Pitch Perfect and its sequels.

## Life and career

Esther Renay Dean was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to single mother Hester Dean and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the younger of five children. She is of Black Indian descent. She began singing at a young age. When Esther was 15, her mother moved her and her sister Deandria to Omaha, Nebraska, where she began working as a session singer and writing for local musicians. At the age of 20, Dean moved to Atlanta with $500 to pursue a career as a songwriter and record producer. She was discovered by music producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who overheard Dean singing along in the crowd of a Gap Band concert. On the strength of her voice and songwriting ability, Tricky signed Dean for a publishing contract.
Dean later parted ways with Tricky and relocated to Los Angeles, where she was introduced to Polow da Don and signed a deal with Zone 4 Records under the aegis of Interscope Records. In 2009, Dean released her debut single as a lead artist, "Drop It Low", which featured singer Chris Brown and production by Polow da Don; the song peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became her only Top 40 single as a lead artist.
Dean's commercial breakthrough came when she collaborated with Stargate on the number one Rihanna single "Rude Boy". She continued to write hit songs for Rihanna, including "What's My Name" and "Where Have You Been", as well as Katy Perry's "Firework" and Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass".
In 2011, Dean contributed to the soundtrack for the animated film Rio by Blue Sky Studios.
She has written, and sometimes produced, Top 40 hits for artists including Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Florence + The Machine, Beyoncé, Drake, Selena Gomez, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Ciara, The Pussycat Dolls, Usher, Kelly Rowland, R. Kelly, Britney Spears, and Lil Wayne.
She appeared as Cynthia Rose in Pitch Perfect, released in 2012, and reprised the role in the sequels Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and Pitch Perfect 3 (2017).
In 2022, she was on the jury panel for American Song Contest representing Oklahoma.

## Artistry
### Voice

Dean possesses a mezzo-soprano range. Her vocals were described by Billboard as "raw, energetic vocals [that] cover a wide range: from club banger to melodic doo-wop/hip-hop." Dean's vocals have also been described as similar to Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. "The songwriter's voice is pitched dead center between two artists. The first is frequent collaborator Rihanna...the other is Nicki Minaj when she sings."

### Songwriting style

In a 2012 article in The New Yorker, Dean described her preferred method of songwriting: "I go into the booth and I scream and I sing and I yell, and sometimes it's words but most time [sic] it's not...and I just see when I get this little chill [on her upper arm, below the shoulder] and then I'm, like, 'Yeah, that's the hook.'"

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2011 | Rio | Boy in Gondola (voice) |
| 2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | Sloth Siren and Gutt's Siren (voice) |
| 2012 | Pitch Perfect | Cynthia-Rose Adams |
| 2015 | Pitch Perfect 2 | Cynthia-Rose Adams |
| 2017 | Pitch Perfect 3 | Cynthia-Rose Adams |
| 2020 | Trolls World Tour | Legsly (voice) |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | Crazy Ex-Girlfriend | Vanessa | Episode: "That Text Was Not Meant for Josh!" |
| 2016 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Guest Judge (season 8) | Episode: "Bitch Perfect" |
| 2019–2020 | Songland | Herself - Judge | |
| 2020 | The Voice | Herself - Guest Judge | Episode: "Live Final Top 5 Performances" |
| 2020–2022 | Central Park | Hazel (voice) | 7 episodes |
| 2021 | Clash of the Cover Bands | Herself - Judge | Season 1 |
| 2021 | Trolls: Holiday in Harmony | Legsly (voice) | short Christmas special |
| 2022 | American Song Contest | Herself - Oklahoma Judge | 8 episodes |

## Accolades

| Year | Ceremony | Nominated Work | Category | Result |
| 2011 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "Hot Tottie" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Urban Songs | Won |
| 2011 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "I Am" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Urban Songs | Won |
| 2011 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "Rude Boy" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Urban Songs | Won |
| 2011 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "Sex Therapy" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Urban Songs | Won |
| 2012 | Grammy Awards | Loud (as a producer and writer) | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | Herself | Songwriter of the Year | Won |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | "Firework" (as a writer) | Pop Song of the Year | Won |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | "Firework" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | "Super Bass" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | "Rude Boy" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | "S&M" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | "What's My Name?" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2012 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "Super Bass" (as a writer) | Urban Song of the Year | Won |
| 2012 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "Super Bass" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Urban Songs | Won |
| 2012 | BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards | "What's My Name?" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Urban Songs | Won |
| 2013 | BMI Pop Awards | "Mr. Know It All" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2013 | BMI Pop Awards | "Turn Me On" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2013 | BMI Pop Awards | "Where Have You Been" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2013 | MTV Movie Awards | Pitch Perfect (shared with the cast) | Best Musical Moment | Won |
| 2013 | Annie Awards | Ice Age: Continental Drift (as a producer) | Best Music in a Feature Production | Nominated |
| 2015 | Hollywood Music in Media Awards | "Dancing in the Dark" (as a writer) | Best Song – Animated Film | Won |
| 2016 | BMI London Awards | "Hey Mama" (as a writer) | Dance Award | Won |
| 2016 | BMI London Awards | "Hey Mama" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2016 | BMI Pop Awards | "Hey Mama" (as a writer) | Award-Winning Pop Songs | Won |
| 2021 | Canadian Country Music Awards | "Champagne Night" (as a writer) | Songwriter of the Year | Won |