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WondaGurl

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WondaGurl
Birth nameEbony Naomi Oshunrinde
Born (1996-12-28) December 28, 1996 (age 27)
Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OriginBrampton, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • record executive
Instruments
Years active2009–present
Labels

Ebony Naomi Oshunrinde (born December 28, 1996), professionally known as WondaGurl, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and record executive.

Early life

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Ebony Naomi Oshunrinde was born on December 28, 1996[4] at the Scarborough Grace Hospital in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Josefina Oshunrinde.[5][6] She lived with her mother in North York and Mississauga before eventually setting in Brampton.[7] WondaGurl started producing on her keyboard with drum pads at age 9.[8] She also credits a Casio keyboard gifted to her by her grandmother as influencing her musical trajectory.[9] According to WondaGurl, she started making beats seriously when she discovered the digital audio workstation Frooty Loops around age 11 or 12.[8]

Her musical tastes also developed in relation to her family, with her mother turning her on to Biggie Smalls and P. Diddy and her brother introducing her to Dipset and hip hop more generally.[9] She credits her mentor Boi-1da for the name "WondaGurl," saying "I got my name from his name, I just switched it around."[9]

Career

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At age 15, WondaGurl entered the 2011 and 2012 Battle of The Beat Makers competition in Toronto, Ontario, where Canadian record producer Boi-1da was present as one of the guest judges at both years. She won first place in the latter year, earning herself a trophy and a Roland SH-01 Gaia synthesizer.[8]

WondaGurl became a protégé of Boi-1da shortly after the competition, and around 2013, started to closely work with American rapper Travis Scott at 16 years old, whom she also signed to years later. She also garnered one of her first high-profile music placements that same year, with rapper Jay-Z on his twelfth studio album Magna Carta Holy Grail, working on the track "Crown" with Travis and record producer Mike Dean.[6] This led to her working with other major artists and producers since then, producing her first Top 40 hit single "Antidote" by Travis Scott in 2015, which was co-produced by Canadian record producer Eestbound. She would soon after go on to sign Eestbound to a production deal at the time, becoming her first co-producer.[10] His deal with her later ended around 2016, leaving them to go their separate ways.[11]

In 2018, she was featured in the Music category of Forbes 30 Under 30.[12] She is one of the youngest women to add production to a platinum-selling hip hop album.[13]

In July 2020, WondaGurl signed a worldwide publishing deal with Travis Scott's Cactus Jack Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in conjunction with her own record label and publishing company, Wonderchild Music.[14]

At the Juno Awards of 2021, WondaGurl won the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award for her work on the songs "Aim for the Moon" (Pop Smoke feat. Quavo) and "Gang Gang" (JackBoys and Sheck Wes).[15] She was both the first Black Canadian woman to win the award, and the first woman ever to win as a producer for other artists rather than as an artist self-producing her own work.[16]

Production discography

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Main article: WondaGurl production discography

Singles produced

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List of singles produced, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US AUS BEL
(FL) 		CAN FRA GER IRL NZ SWI UK
"Bitch Better Have My Money"
(Rihanna) 		2015 15 14 27 11 3 17 39 10 7 27 non-album single
"Antidote"[19][20]
(Travis Scott) 		16 75 38 120 — — — — — — Rodeo
"No Limit" (Remix)
(Usher featuring A$AP Ferg, Master P, Travis Scott) 		2016 32 45 — — — — — — — — Hard II Love
"Braille"[23]
(Ab-Soul featuring Bas) 		— — — — — — — — — — Do What Thou Wilt.
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

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  1. ^ "Wondagurl Interview: Producer Talks Don Toliver and Travis Scott". Billboard. April 2, 2020.
  2. ^ Berry, Peter A. (6 May 2020). "Wondagurl Speaks On Working With Travis Scott, Lil Uzi & More". XXL Mag.
  3. ^ "Hit Producer WondaGurl Signs Global Co-Publishing Deal With Sony/ATV, Cactus Jack". Variety. July 21, 2020.
  4. ^ Daniel, George Modokpe (February 27, 2018). "Meet the Nigerian-Canadian WondaGurl behind hip-hop's loudest beats". Glazia. Retrieved January 17, 2019. Born December 28, 1996 in Ontario, Canada to Josefina Oshunrinde
  5. ^ "Wondagurl: Already Graduated - NOISEY". 10 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  6. ^ a b "16-Year-Old 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' Producer 'Wondagurl' Now Working on Beats for Drake". The Hollywood Reporter. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  7. ^ "Toronto's Ebony 'WondaGurl' Oshunrinde looking to reveal her own sound". Toronto Star. 17 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "WondaGurl (Ebony Oshunrinde)". Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Ju, Shirley (2023-04-22). "PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT: WondaGurl Talks the Importance Of Women and Non-Binary Producers, and Best Advice From Boi-1da - The Source". Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  10. ^ "Eestbound Is the Man Behind Travis $cott's "Antidote" and the First Producer Signed to Wondagurl - NOISEY". 10 August 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Eestbound Announces He Is Not Currently Signed To Wondagurl". June 27, 2017.
  12. ^ "WondaGurl". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-03-19.[dead link‍]
  13. ^ "5 poppin' female producers you should know by name in 2018". Kulture Hub. 2018-04-25. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  14. ^ "Sony/ATV and Cactus Jack Sign WondaGurl to Global Publishing Deal". Music Connection Magazine. July 21, 2020.
  15. ^ Holly Gordon and Andrea Warner, "Here are the 2021 Juno Award winners". CBC Music, June 4, 2021.
  16. ^ Paul Grein, "The Weeknd Wins Three 2021 Juno Awards on First Night of Ceremony". Billboard, June 4, 2021.
  17. ^ Ryan, Gavin (July 18, 2015). "ARIA Singles: Meghan Trainor and John Legend Spend 4th Week On Top". Noise11. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  18. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Rihanna – Bitch Better Have My Money". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved September 5, 2017.[dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Antidote - Single by Travis Scott on Apple Music". Apple Inc. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  20. ^ "WondaGurl Producer Profile on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  21. ^ "Single Accreds 2017". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  22. ^ @chartdata (February 6, 2019). "US Certifications (@RIAA): @trvisXX, Antidote 4x Platinum (4,000,000)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Braille (feat. Bas) - Single by Ab-Soul on Apple Music". Apple Inc. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
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