Brampton's 'WondaGurl' Lands Major Publishing Deal
The young Canadian-Nigerian beatmaker has been signed to Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in partnership with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Publishing. She has worked on hits by Scott, Drake, Rihanna, Don Toliver, Pop Smoke and many more.
By David Farrell
Multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated producer Ebony “WondaGurl” Oshunrinde, a 23-year-old Canadian-Nigerian producer, has been signed to Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in partnership with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Publishing.
Starting her career creating beats at her parents' home in Brampton, WondaGurl has produced popular songs including Antidote, No Bystanders, and Can't Say by Travis Scott, Aim for the Moon by Pop Smoke ft. Quavo, Christopher Walking by Pop Smoke, platinum single No Idea by Don Toliver, Gang Gang from JackBoys' #1 EP album, B**ch Better Have My Money by Rihanna, and Company by Drake ft. Travis Scott.
WondaGurl is also one of the youngest women to add production to a platinum-selling hip hop album due to her work on Jay-Z's 2013 album, Magna Carta Holy Grail.
In 2018, WondaGurl was featured in the Music category of Forbes 30 Under 30, which recognized her success as a producer. In addition to her production work, she has made the transition to a label and publishing executive by entering into a publishing joint-venture with Sony/ATV and her company Wonderchild, which focuses on developing the next generation of producers and giving them the chance to work with artists alongside her. She has already signed two longtime collaborators to her publishing imprint this spring.
She has also staked her claim in the branding world, collaborating with Beats, the Toronto Raptors, Sprite, and Reebok.
After entering her first Battle of the Beatmakers competition in 2009, Oshunrinde met producer Matthew “Boi-1da” Samuels, a fellow Canadian who has created tunes for such hitmakers as Kanye West, Eminem and Nicki Minaj. “I’d email him beats and he’d send his feedback,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. She named herself “Wondagurl,” a spinoff of Boi-1da’s handle, as a way to pay homage to the producer.
In the same article, she recounts working with Drake on his album Nothing Was the Same: “We went into the studio here in Toronto,” she says. “He wants a banger. That’s what he told me. So that is what I am going to make him.” How much progress have they made so far? “The studio session wasn’t very long,” she confesses. “I had to go because my mom was calling me home.”
