Ester Dean gave a breakdown of her contributions to the controversial verse on Keri Hilson’s ‘Turning Me On Remix’ while issuing an additional apology to the singer for the downward spiral her career took afterward!
In an open letter to Keri and other creatives shared to Instagram Ester wrote, “Back in July 2008, I started working with [producer] Polow Da Don in Atlanta. Later, I moved to Los Angeles to write for Polow’s artist over at Interscope. I wasn’t famous. I wasn’t chasing clout. I was in the studio – day and night – writing 3 to 4 songs a day. No friends. No family. Just work.”
Further in the letter Ester confirmed the lyrics she wrote in the leaked ‘Turnin’ Me On Remix’ as the verse took direct jabs at Beyoncé’ and her 2006 hit ‘Irreplaceable.’
“Your vision cloudy if you think that you’re the best/ You can dance, she can sing/ But she need to move it to the …”
As we previously reported, Keri addressed being Black-balled in the music industry after shading Beyoncé’. While appearing in an interview with ‘The Breakfast Club,’ Keri expressed how the ‘Turnin’ Me On Remix’ took a toll on her career. “It’s a regret.”
She explained that she didn’t fully write the controversial verse but never mentioned her co-writer. It wasn’t until a social media user mentioned Ester’s name and she came forward to write, “AND DID. It was a hit”
Nearly twenty years later, Ester admits that the verse was tacky while noting that her words weren’t forced.
“No. That was me. I wasn’t in the room with Keri writing this together,” she continued. “I didn’t know her personally. She was already a star. I was just a writer trying to earn my place. I did my job and left. Keri came in another time and wrote her own verse – her pen, her voice.”
Ester went on to address online speculation regarding her time with Roc Nation, “I didn’t work with Beyoncé until years later when I signed to Roc Nation as a writer. There was no ‘plot’ no ‘beef squad’. No secret industry mission. Just writers writing.”
“Keri was already massive. She didn’t need saving. She was out here making history. Why Speak Now? Keri was speaking on big platforms I didn’t have access to – and it was her story to tell, not mine. I stayed writing. No hate. No shade. Just truth.”
While acknowledging the backlash Keri received from fans for nearly two decades Ester asked for folks to give her grace. “She’s a great artist, a beautiful spirit, and she deserves grace.”
“She took her lessons. I’ll take mine.”
In The Breakfast Club interview, while taking responsibility for her own actions, Keri also revealed that she was forced by Polow to sing the song. She expressed that she regrets not sticking up for herself.
“He produced the record. Because I was on tour with Lil Wayne, I wasn’t able to lay anything down. He had been on me for a couple of weeks, [saying] we need to do a remix.”
Keri continued, “He had another writer in our camp at the time … he had her write this,” “He played it for me— meanwhile I’m thinking I was coming in to write a remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On.’ Automatically, I was like, ‘I’m not saying that.’ That was my position. I’m an athlete. I am competitive. But I’m not nasty, I’m a finesse player. I don’t look at things like that.”
She recalled, “I tried to fight him on it and I began writing my own,” the singer said. “The mistake that I made was not continuing to fight. But I was in tears, I was crying, I was adamant that I did not want to do that.”
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