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.

[4] 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.

She was discovered by music producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who overheard Dean singing along in the crowd of a Gap Band concert.

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".

"[9] 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.