Ester Dean On Why Women and Barbies Should Be Producers

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Starting out in underground studios in Omaha, Nebraska, before relocating to Atlanta at age 20, she understands that the obstacles barring entry to the music industry, like purchasing equipment and renting studio time, can be difficult to overcome. Today, less than 2 percent of producers are women, and fewer still are women of color. That’s why Dean collaborated with Girls Make Beats to expose girls to the careers of producers, DJs, and audio engineers. The program offers one-on-one mentorship with working professionals and provides music equipment for hands-on courses, which Dean hopes will make the journey more accessible, especially for those from underprivileged backgrounds. She is working in collaboration with Mattel, who even created a music producer Barbie doll to inspire young women to pursue a career in the industry. “If you want to know what a girl sounds like, let her make beats,” Dean says. “If you want to know what the essence of a woman is, have her make music.”

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Dean remembers it was “hearing Black women sing and just have all the swag” that inspired her to step into her creativity unapologetically. “Mary J. Blige, Kelly Price, Faith Evans, SWV with the b-boy outfits. Women in the R&B, hip-hop genres made me want to do everything they were doing.” Seeing artists that looked like her gave Dean the confidence to pursue a career in music, which underscored for her the importance of representation. She explains how she believes that the next generation can close the gender gap by exuding confidence in their work, showing up with a business-first attitude, and never seeking the validation of the boys.

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From your time and experience, can you speak about the representation of women behind the scenes and why you believe that narrative exists? 

Ester Dean: I have only been in the music industry for 10 years. I watched the secret, turned it into my manifestation, and came to California, worked like a dog. And I didn't see just males. I didn't just see females. I saw a group of people in their working lives. The first time I looked at an interview and it said that other people had written the song I wrote, I was like, how did they get that magazine to say that?

The gap is when you're working in the back, you don't come up to greet the people in the front. You know, the chefs don't come out. I've learned, if I have PR, when the song came out, I was also involved in the conversation. I do believe whether it's a woman or a man, the gap between people knowing who wrote the music and who produced the music is based on PR. It's like, you can say you did it all day on Instagram, but that ain't going to take you that far. It's going to get some likes, but it's not going to get global exposure. So I tell every producer, every songwriter, everybody I meet: Are you going to get your PR?

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