WondaGurl, the acclaimed music producer, is not only shaping the sound of music but also looking to shake up the music industry with her ventures, Wonderchild and Ebony Systems. Wonderchild, a record label and mentorship program, nurtures emerging producers, while Ebony Systems develops innovative tools to simplify music production. She made history in 2021 by being the first Black woman to receive the Jack Richardson Producer Of The Year Award.
WondaGurl, a 28-year-old Canadian producer and executive, has achieved multi-platinum status and received Grammy nominations for her work with artists like Travis Scott, Jay Z, Drake, Rihanna, and Eminem. Her latest prominent contributions include the platinum hit "No Idea" by Don Toliver and "Gang Gang" from the JACKBOYS' chart-topping album of the same name.
Ebony Oshunrinde, better known as WondaGurl, made the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Music. https://www.forbes.com/profile/wondagurl/
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WondaGurl, a 28-year-old Canadian producer and executive, has achieved multi-platinum status and received Grammy nominations for her work with artists like Travis Scott, Jay Z, Drake, Rihanna, and Eminem. Her latest prominent contributions include the platinum hit "No Idea" by Don Toliver and "Gang Gang" from the JACKBOYS' chart-topping album of the same name.
Ebony Oshunrinde, better known as WondaGurl, made the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Music. https://www.forbes.com/profile/wondagurl/
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
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Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00I've been surrounded by music and I've always been drawn to instrumentals
00:07because my mom would always play music, my grandma would always be playing music.
00:11I was just hearing it everywhere but it was always like I can never focus on the
00:15words and it was always the instrumental for me and when I got a keyboard all
00:19that kind of just came together and I started like creating my own like
00:23melodies and stuff like that. So the Battle of the Beatmakers, the first time
00:27I was in there I was about 14. It was really nerve-wracking. I went with my mom
00:32both times but the first time I like literally had like I'm like a nervous
00:37breakdown. I was like I need to leave like I can't do this anymore. This was
00:41like after I won the first round. I've always been in my bedroom and I was a
00:45really quiet kid and I spent all my time like just making music so having to like
00:51play the music that I've just been alone making in front of a whole bunch of
00:55people was just a lot for me. I was like crying with my mom and then she looked
00:59at me and she's like like I this is what you want you know like if this is not
01:03what you want then we can leave but this is exactly what you wanted so you should
01:08go back in there. So I did and then I didn't win that time around but I won a
01:13second time and then I won that time and I was the youngest at the time to win so
01:19I was 15. I met Boy Wonder at the Battle of the Beatmakers. We kind of kept in
01:24contact from there. So I asked Boy Wonder to be my mentor at that time and that's
01:28kind of how like our relationship grew a lot. He also like just gave me really
01:33good advice like especially with certain people that I would work with. He was
01:37like the first person to tell me not to put too much into my music because I
01:40would kind of like especially because of the beat battle culture I would add like
01:43a whole lot of just different sounds and not care too much for the artists so
01:49he's the first person that really made me think about the artists first. Our
01:53relationship is still incredible right now. I can call him anytime and ask him
02:01for anything at any point so he's just like an amazing person.
02:08I founded Wonder Child in 2020. I was like working with a lot of producers for
02:15a while like because I was just kind of like following Boy Wonder's model he
02:19would just constantly be helping a bunch of producers and I'd see he'd be
02:23signing as his producers he started his own like publishing company and all that
02:27stuff so that really inspired me. So I would have producers that you know
02:32didn't have any placements or whatever around me in general and I'd find them
02:37opportunities and all that. I signed my first producer in 20 I think was 2015
02:42and it inspired me to like start signing producers again because I really enjoyed
02:47working with them I really wanted to just see them grow into something as
02:52producers. COVID hit and obviously there was a lot of time to think and I was
02:57just like yeah I kind of want to start actually turning this into a thing and
03:02build a brand. I've always just wanted to like change the way music sounds in
03:07general and I feel like one of the ways of doing that is like controlling the
03:12producers that are coming into the industry as well. I just want to help
03:15them like come in and change the way that music sounds in general. I love like
03:21just helping like and just guiding people through that and and and seeing
03:26them become the producer or whatever it is like whatever they want to be just
03:30achieving those goals. Anytime any of my producers get placements I'm just like
03:34yes you know so it's yeah it's been dope. I met Ebony the first time through her
03:44cousin named Matt. One day he just said like hey you should come to the studio
03:47because he knew I made beats and I met Ebony and I played her my beats. She
03:53didn't like it at first but things happen you know and you know I just hope
03:59for the best. Kept in contact and ever since yeah we've just been working with
04:04each other ever since yeah. Being a part of One The Child is like being a part of
04:07a family. In the music industry you kind of get lost in like different groups and
04:10you know hang around the wrong crowds or I feel like me just being a One The
04:15Child definitely helped me in terms of like you know helping me be humble and
04:19yeah stay grounded. I produced for like Bad Bunny, Summer Walker, SZA, Don
04:25Tolliver, Lil Uzi. I won a Grammy for Bad Bunny's album and yeah it was it was a
04:33blessing. So Ebony Systems is just basically a company that I'm starting.
04:41I've always wanted to create tools that can like just simplify the process for
04:47certain people and kind of help them understand what sounds I'm putting
04:52together and how I do it. Putting that all the things that I use in one little
04:56thing would just make everyone's life easier so. So effects plug-in is like
05:01something that you would put in the mixer like a delay or something or a
05:04reverb. Effects plug-in is not something you play it's just you add it onto
05:08sounds to make them have effects. A VST is more of like a virtual instrument
05:14usually a VST would be like a piano that's in the program or drum
05:19synthesizer in the actual program and you're using it on your MIDI controller.
05:23Ebony Systems is I feel like our way of really consolidating a really simple
05:30workflow that has worked for Wonder Girl into a now product that is open for
05:36the world. I think that at her level she's developed such a level of
05:41experience that now she's able to understand exactly what a producer needs
05:46and it's just a really simple way to get the sound for you. Hardware has been a
05:52really big dream for us and I think that to just develop everything Ebony wants
05:57to develop is our dream. Like if it's going to be a speaker set or if it's
06:01going to be a portable speaker if it's going to be headphones if it's going to
06:03be any type of equipment or technology and we can create it how we want to
06:08create it that's the dream.
06:11I think business and art often clash in many ways and sometimes you want to
06:19maintain that purity of just creating and being creative but balancing it with
06:24launching a business that's sustainable that can grow that can evolve so I think
06:28pairing those two and Ebony is very passionate and she really cares about
06:32the music and the artists that she works with and the producers that she works
06:36with so it's kind of creating an environment where that can thrive but
06:39the business can also grow. I wouldn't say I'm like the most especially before
06:43the most business forward person I was like all creatives so it's made me
06:49have to like focus on business learn everything about the business I actually
06:54have. Hearing how she talks about the producers that have come up under her
06:59and the artists and that passion so it's not necessarily based on like accolades
07:03but the moments that I'm really proud to be working with there is when she speaks
07:06and I can tell how passionate is how passionate she is about the work that
07:10we're doing. So one of the things that stand out with Ebony is her range of
07:14sound and her to kind of go to the future and go back in time be present
07:23it's always amazing because sound is you know like the creation of it is is is so
07:32random at times but that's the best part because every day every summer there's a
07:38new sound there's a new vibe. She literally will go in and just like it's
07:42she's like dissecting a whole entire like beat. She'll like go in and just you
07:47know take out one sound and then put it on the next you know the end of the beat
07:50or just you know take a chop and then you know kind of reverse it and just do
07:55certain things that very like unorthodox ways of doing it compared to other
07:58producers but that's what really makes her stand out to a lot of producers here.
08:02There's a lot of songs I listen to and I'm like who produced this and I'm like
08:05of course Ebony did but I'd have no idea like when I first play the song and it's
08:10happened a few times. The authenticity to her sound and how you can be in any
08:15place you could be in a club you could be in a bar you could be in an airplane
08:19and you hear a Wonder Girl beat come on you know it's Wonder Girl.
08:26I didn't become a producer to be famous at all you know when I was really young
08:30it was like the the fame the just people knowing my name was like very tough for
08:36me just a whole bunch of people like looking up to me now and just knowing my
08:41name and seeing me in places and being like a Wonder Girl like it was kind of
08:44just like a lot for me and doing interviews was a lot for me as well like
08:48just that type of attention you know I just grew into it you know and it's it's
08:52it's cool now like I'm fine with people coming up to me and whatever it is like
08:58I actually kind of enjoy it and I appreciate it.
09:00Working with Ebony in a creative sense and just in general what I love about
09:04working with her is that she's incredibly optimistic I think that
09:08there's no there's no limits on what we want to create and there's there's no
09:14pessimism in terms of like we don't have enough tools to create it it's like any
09:19type of utility or any person that we need to get to or any type of any type
09:22of resource that we'll ever need to create a product in mind we have.
09:27It just comes down to how much Ebony cares she really cares about the music she cares
09:31about the artists she cares about the producers and you can see how that
09:35affects the way we do business and the things that we prioritize and the things
09:38that we care about.
09:39In the next five years for Wonder Child the record label I hope to find a great
09:44home for it and definitely like blow up a few artists keep signing more
09:49producers keep helping keep building the brand as well and turning it into more
09:54than what it is and something that people can really feel and connect to.
09:58For Ebony Systems I just want to have just a bunch of products I want people
10:02to be actually using it in their workflow I want to see it in everyone's
10:06mixers you know and then eventually have the hardware, speaker, computers,
10:13synthesizers whatever it is because the possibilities are endless so hopefully
10:18we'll see that in the next five years.
10:27you