Ebony Oshunrinde (born December 28, 1996), professionally known as WondaGurl, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and record executive. WondaGurl has worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, Travis Scott, Jay-Z, Drake and Kanye West.
At 26 years old, Canadian producer Ebony Oshunrinde — better known as WondaGurl — has built a career most music-business veterans twice her age would envy.
Early Life
WondaGurl started producing on her keyboard with drum pads at age 9. At age 15, she 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.
Ebony Oshunrinde’s Big Break
She got her first major credit, on Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, when she was still in her teens, and she has since produced more than 100 tracks for Travis Scott, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Rihanna, and other top acts. Her credits include multi-platinum hits including Scott’s “Antidote” and Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money.”
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.
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.
Recognition
In 2018, she was featured in the Music category of Forbes 30 Under 30. She is one of the youngest women to add production to a platinum-selling hip hop album.
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.
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).
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.
WondaGurl is naturally shy, and her aversion o the spotlight made it difficult, early on, to adjust to being one of the most sought-after beatmakers in the business.
Breaking Boundaries
She is currently one of the few women regularly getting A-list production work in any genre; female producers in music account for less than three percent of production credits on the 900 most popular songs of the past nine years, according to a recent study. Yet she’s never let herself be discouraged.
“I want to make girls feel like they could do this,” she says. “I know a lot want to.” She told Rolling Stone Magazine in a recent interview.
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