Ester Dean

Ester Dean is an American songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actor and entrepreneur from Muskogee, Oklahoma. Dean lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Omaha, Nebraska, before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, following her graduation from Omaha North High School in 2001.

Dean later relocated to Los Angeles, where she met producer Polow da Don and was signed to his Zone 4/Interscope Records label. During her tenure, Dean penned a catalog of hits for countless artists, including Britney Spears, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé, Monica, Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole, Kelly Rowland, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Ciara and Usher, among others.

In 2009, Dean recorded and released her first single, "Drop It Low," featuring Chris Brown, for the LeBron James documentary More Than a Game. The song peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first U.S. Top 40 single.

In 2011, Dean inked a management deal with Roc Nation and, in 2012, went on to co-write and guest-vocal on Machine Gun Kelly's single "Invincible," which has been used in advertisements for Verizon's HTC Rezound campaign and served as the theme song for WrestleMania XXVIII.

During her career, Dean has made several contributions to film projects, including the "Step Up 3D: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (2010), "Burlesque: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (2010) and "Rio: Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack" (2011). Dean took her film involvement one step further in 2012 when she voiced two characters in the fourth installment of the animated Ice Age franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift, as well as writing a song for the movie, titled "We Are (Family)." In 2012, Dean made her acting debut in Pitch Perfect and performed on the soundtrack as well.

Dean has earned herself numerous Billboard Top 10 hits, five Grammy Award nominations, a 2014 BET Award nomination for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and a 2013 Annie Award nomination for Music in an Animated Feature Production, and won, alongside the Pitch Perfect cast, the 2013 MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Moment.

2015 continued to be a year of major achievements for the young entrepreneur. In addition to writing collaborations, Dean has released two new singles as an independent artist, "Get My Dough" and "Twerkin 4 Birkin," featuring rapper Juicy J. She also heads E.K.A.S Records, her own joint venture alongside Interscope Records, through which her first artist Jasmine V's debut single, "That's Me Right There," featuring Kendrick Lamar, was released.

Universal Pictures