Under her birth name, she signed with Capitol Records to release her debut studio album Jukebox (2009), which was met with positive critical reception despite failing to chart.

She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other artists, namely the singles "Promise This" by Cheryl, "California King Bed" by Rihanna, "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" by Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" by Ariana Grande, "Who Says" by Selena Gomez & the Scene, and the global hit "Timber" by Pitbull.

A sleeper hit, the song peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, led her to sign with Def Jam Recordings, and won Best R&B Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

Her first video was a rendition of "Cry Me a River" she submitted to a contest whose winner would sing with Justin Timberlake at the Grammy Awards, albeit she did not win.

In 2010, she co-wrote the UK number-one single "Promise This" by Cheryl ;[20] as well as "California King Bed", a track from Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud, released in November 2010.

[21] During late 2011, she took part in the ASCAP retreat, a songwriting event in France sponsored by Cain Foundation, Avid, Gibson and Sennheiser.

[22] She continued her songwriting career, landing credits on 2011 and 2012 albums by Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Mika, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Chris Brown and Little Mix.

[20][26] Long co-wrote Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert's 2014 hit duet, "Somethin' Bad", which was nominated for a Grammy Award, and reached number one on Billboard's Country Chart.

[27] The song was later chosen by NBC Sports to replace "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett as the opening theme for its National Football League.

Like Jett's song, "Somethin' Bad" was reworked to fit the broadcast's narrative as "Oh, Sunday Night" and was performed by Carrie Underwood, who recorded the original with Miranda Lambert.

The track was given 'the hottest record in the world' title on the Annie Mac BBC Radio 1 Friday night show.

[32] Her decision to title the album Coloured was called provocative by some, due to the racial stigma of the term "colored" in American history.

[34] The song "Land of the Free", according to NPR, serves as "an appeal for empathy toward those who live in fear of racial profiling and police brutality".

She debuted the name with her 2020 single "Midnight Snack" featuring Jacob Latimore, which was released alongside an accompanying music video in October of that year.

"[12] On July 1, 2022, Long released the EP Public Displays of Affection Too, which was promoted by the singles "Pain", "Another", and "Baby Boo", the latter of which being a collaboration with rapper Saweetie.

[36] She attended Vero Beach High School, and worked at Bono's Bbq (Wilke's 14 Bones)[53][54] Long has one son, which was revealed when she brought him on stage during the 11:11 Tour with Chris Brown.