Jay-Z has reportedly given a major break to 16- year-old schoolgirl, by selecting one of her beats for his new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail.
Nigerian-Canadian Ebony Oshunrinde, who goes by the alias Wondagurl, had her music career changed forever after her beat was selected for the song, Crown on Jigga’s new ablum.
As reported by mtv.com:
“How does a 16-year-old girl from Ontario, Canada go from relative obscurity to producing a track on Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail? Well, luckily for Ebony Oshunrinde aka Wondagurl, she has a great ear for dancehall samples and a pretty cool relationship with G.O.O.D. Music and Grand Hustle signee, Travis Scott.
It all started after Wondagurl was inspired after hearing Pusha T, Scott and Popcaan’s dancehall-inspired Blocka.”
Wondagurl has been making beats for the last eight years. According to huffingtonpost.com:
“A budding beatmaker since she was 9, Wondagurl caught the attention of superstar producer and Drake associate, Boi 1da, who took her under his wing and helped her win the 2012 ‘Battle of the Beatmakers’ competition. Since then, she has worked on tracks for SonReal & Rich Kidd, Ryan Leslie, and got a big placement on a Travi$ Scott track called Uptown.
“It was her work on Uptown that caught Hov’s ear and he snapped up the hazy, loping trap beat that WondaGurl programmed for Crown, which sits alongside production by Scott, The-Dream, Boi 1da, Pharell Williams, Hit-Boy, Mike WiLL, and her first hero, Timbaland, among others.”
It is fitting that Jay would be such a young producer a big break, as it is something he’s become known for.
Ever since his 2001 Blueprint where he introduced the world to Kanye West aka Yeezus, Jigga has seemed to make it a point to always find an up-and-coming producer to work with. And I’m sure young Wondagurl has no complaints about that.
This story is a celebration of black star power for so many reasons, but we especially love it because she’s Nigerian, she’s female in a male-dominated industry, she’s promoting dancehall music, and she’s only 16.
She’s so young that she can’t even fully focus on her career at this point because her parents have her priorities in mind: She says she has to do her school work or else her mom will take her computer.
It’s a feel good story and Jay-Z’s album is already online. But it officially launches July 7.
