The Business Behind the Beats: Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis on Ownership & Legacy

Owning your work is where real, lasting wealth in music begins. In this episode of Taking Care of Your Music Business, The MLC’s Jamie Dominguez sits down with Grammy-winning, multi-platinum producer Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis — the creative force behind The Fugees' The Score, Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie," Santana's "Maria Maria," Whitney Houston's "My Love Is Your Love," and countless other global hits. Recorded live from SXSW in Austin, this conversation digs into the business behind the beats, including how Jerry bought back and now owns 100% of his catalog, and why he refuses to sell. 

Jerry shares the hard-earned lessons that shaped his career, from understanding publishing and royalties early to the importance of owning your masters, building a legacy, and marketing yourself as an artist. Whether you're a songwriter, producer, or music professional, you'll walk away with practical insights to help you protect what you create and build a career that lasts. Tune in and take notes. 

Watch all our full episodes on YouTube here and learn more about The MLC and our mission to ensure songwriters and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the U.S. accurately and on time here. 

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Taking Care of Your Music Business, brought to you by the Mechanical Licensing Collective, also known as the MLC. In this podcast, we'll dive deep into the heart of the music industry, exploring how to get paid as a creative, making sure that you're receiving all the royalties you deserve.

We'll also dive into building a sustainable career, sharing strategies and best practices that creators can use to achieve long-term success. Join us as we bring you interviews with top songwriters and music executives who share their personal journeys and professional wisdom on thriving in the business, all while making a living.

So get ready for some real talk about navigating the music industry. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and be sure to catch all of our full episodes on YouTube Welcome to Taking Care of Your Music Business, brought to you by the MLC. I'm your host, Jamie Dominguez. When you think about the songs that defined a generation, the ones that moved culture forward and topped charts worldwide, there's usually a brilliant mind working behind [00:01:00] the scenes to bring that vision to life.

Today, we're sitting down with one of those architects of modern music. Jerry Wonda Duplessis is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum producer whose work has transcended genres, borders, and generations. From producing the iconic album, The Score, by The Fugees, to crafting global hits like Shakira's Hips Don't Lie and Santana's Maria Maria, Jerry Wonda has worked with some of the biggest names in music, contributing to hundreds of millions of records sold worldwide.

But beyond the hits, Jerry understands something essential: building a lasting career in music means understanding the business behind the beats. I caught up with Jerry at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, to chat about legacy, collaboration, and navigating today's music industry, especially when it comes to ownership and protecting your work.

Let's dive in. Here's my conversation with Jerry [00:02:00] Wonda. So let's just start at the beginning because you have a crazy story and, um, you know, your path in, and journey in this business and life is, um, it's extraordinary actually. Like, it's really something that, um, I think everyone needs to hear and that, that you need to share because you were born in Haiti.

Um, tell me a little bit about what growing up in Haiti was like and, and how you, you know, how a kid from Haiti ends up in New Jersey and making the biggest records, some of the biggest records of all time. Well, first of all, thanks Jamie for giving me the opportunity to sit here, or I'd be in the studio probably cooking a a song right now.

But, um, before everything, for me, um, I just remember playing an instrument [00:03:00] And, uh, in Haiti, in a sense where that, um, that instrument was a bass guitar, and while the music was playing, the bass lines and every song that I create take me back to being a musician. So in Haiti with my mom, my mom would put me in a donkey and just go buy avocado and mangoes and to sell in a flea market.

Um, but one thing we had, we had God, and she'll make sure that we all go to church. So going into church, um, I fell in love with the bass, and I learned, but I wasn't allowed. I wasn't old enough. I was, like, 14 years old to play in the church yet 'cause no one knows I know how to play. But I was practicing with the neighbor, and there's a guitar player.

I think he was crazy dude playing the guitar. But a guitar player, all we need-- They need a bass player [00:04:00] all the time. So I stop- we start practicing, and he would teach me a lot of the song. And at the time, you have Bob Marley. I love learning all the, the song for the church. And one day, the bass player for the church somehow didn't show up, and I basically was looking at that bass that Sunday, my heart shaking.

And I'm like, "Oh my God, it's my turn to play that bass." And you have that voice that said, "If you go up there, you don't do good. People gonna laugh." And the other voice say, "You got one chance. You better go play that bass." I was like, "Okay." So I got up. The thing with bass players, when you, when you see a bass player playing, they're like-- They're always making a face, and they get the groove, get passion with the instrument.

So I got on stage. Thank God the song that they, [00:05:00] they were singing, those are the song I've been practicing. So I got s-- You know, I closed my eyes. And after church, there's, um, the older lady that always- Always the one that's singing and passionate about the music, came to me and said, "My son, you, you really bring, you brought the spirit into the, the service.

Please keep playing." And I remember I was like, wow. And there was a girl that I like, and a little boy, you know, like I never say hi. And, and she came to me and said, oh my God, called me by my name, and said, "You, you play good." I was like, "I'm a bass player. You can tell me anything." So now, that bass, I would just practice, practice, practice, and I got really good at it.

And by the time I moved to the United States and my dad send me to his, his sister's house and said, "You know what? [00:06:00] Why don't you be with your auntie? They, they have a church, and you're a musician. Play." And that's where I met Wyclef. Mm. And Wyclef my cousin, and he was waiting for me 'cause he's like... 'cause he was in a church playing a, you know, starting a church.

But I was already a great bass player. He's like, "My cousin a bass player. He's coming, moving to the US- United States," blah. I was like, the m- So you'd never met before though. No, no, no, no, no. You and Wyclef never met. Okay. No, no, no. By the time I got to the house, and I, they already had a bass waiting for me.

And I went in the church, playing that bass. I remember. But, you know, I was so good, and people, they're always looking for a bass player. So there was a band, I don't speak Spanish, there was a merengue band that was looking for a bass player, and they play salsa, merengue. And, and they's like, "Yo, you wanna play?"

I'm like, "I don't speak Spanish." [00:07:00] They're like, "Okay." Of course, when I got there to rehearsal and I start playing, they, they're like, "Man, this... You the best." So I start learning how to play merengue. Then, um, then there's another band looking, a top 40 band looking for a bass player. So I was playing wedding band, now playing Bruce Springsteen music, Marvin Gaye's, and I'm playing all this, you know, funk.

Then I'm fell in, I fell in love playing funk music. And you know a bass player, you know, like we love, you know... That was Michael Jackson. I was like, "Yo, it's on." Then I start playing with a reggae band. Now musically, it helped me understand different style of music. And My brother was a chef. We, we-- I still wasn't making enough money, so he invite me to be in the kitchen [00:08:00] and work with him, and I end up working in a restaurant.

They were playing all kind of music. So our brains is like a data that pick up every... When people listening to like a Maria Maria my records, they have no idea where my, where I came up with all this music. So that's how I started. Then I fell in love with Michael Jackson. Th- Michael Jackson, when you say Michael, I say, "Who's doing the music?"

It was Quincy Jones. I say, I did a research on Quincy, great musician. I said, "Hmm, I wanna be just like Quincy Jones." I went to school to be a recording engineer While I was in school, it was good. They showing me how to do, fix cables and things. And I'm like, "That's not what I wanna do. Can I please start really..."

And they're like, "Well, you need to learn the [00:09:00] production." I say, "I wanna be a producer." Now, while I was doing that, the opportunity came in with, with, uh, Wyclef, my brother, and, and we said, "Let's build a recording studio." My dad end up letting me take his basement. We built a recording studio. We didn't know what we was doing.

And I remember the drug dealer would be coming to the, to the, to the, to the studio. Wyclef and I, we making the beats. We cooking. So we was making money and s- you know, a little, little cash. All of a sudden, we end up producing. You know, Lauryn start coming to the studio, John Forte, the Outsidaz, and we, The Score album, sold, and which is now The Score is at, what, 40 million copies sold?

It was done in the basement of my dad's house, and I produce it. Then I was like, "Oh my God, this is it." But okay, that's crazy. L- so [00:10:00] w- the Booga Basement. This is the- Yep, that's the Booga Basement. Yeah ... this is the, the legendary Booga Basement. Yeah. When you were in the Booga Basement with Wyclef, and Pras, and Lauryn, and you're making this record, did you have any idea that it would be that huge?

Not at all. Um, at the- It's so, uh, because it's such a unique blend of all of the... You know, you've never heard a hip-hop record like that before The Score. A, you know, it's like, it's, it's almost worldly, right? Like, you've got reggae influence, you've got soul, you've got R&B, hip-hop. Like, it's, it's not, it wasn't what hip-hop sounded like at the time at all.

Well, at the time, since we, we were musician, that's why I always said, um, you know, being a great-- If you wanna, really wanna get into [00:11:00] music, I tell the, the young kids, "You have to learn how to play an instrument." Since we were playing, Wyclef was playing keyboards. We play guitar, bass. Now, we matching the hip-hop, and Lauryn would always singing.

We like, "Hold up. How do we go and then add music into the hip-hop?" So we had, we was like, "Okay, what we gonna do?" I remember Jerry on bass. They called me T-Bass, Little Bass. Then, uh, and, uh, we had a drummer. We had a plumber that helped me build the studio. We was like, "Johnny," I never forget. He be like, "Yo, we gonna play the drums."

So Clef on guitar, and we had, we had, uh, um, a, a DJ. So we make sure that every song we was doing, there was a hook. It wasn't just rap, rap, rap. But if you listen to the score, it wasn't just rap music. That's when we-- [00:12:00] hip-hop was moving a little melodic And it for a certain purpose. Yeah. You know how we blend music in with hip hop with the DJ.

And, and it wasn't a bunch of instrument. It was the bass guitar, and, and the DJ, and drums. So we kept it really simple, and that's what, you know, The Refugee Camp was about. Yeah, I mean, but even culturally that, you know, the concept of the Fugees, Refugee Camp, and really, you know, speaking to, you know, the refu- y- your identity, you know, as, as a Haitian who came to America and, you know, the impact of that on music and culture and what you were saying, what, you know, what the band was saying i- on that record, like the message.

You know, that, that was really ahead of, ahead of the time. I mean, and, and was that [00:13:00] always... While you're writing, while you're in, while you're in the studio, was that... I mean, that w- had to be intentional, or was it? Well, it was for me musically since I was a part of making the beats. It was like we went to Europe, opened for a band called Dice Effects.

Mm. And we see how our music were when we get on stage. So we was doing music. Not only we was doing music with the melodic and lyrics in a certain way, but we said when we perform, we had to catch a crowd. Yeah. So, and we grew up in church. It was about the crowd, do a performance. Like when we get on that stage, I remember, uh, we was, we was Fugees, The Refugee Camp, the Fugees, we go on tour with The Roots.

And that was the beginning of The Roots. We start at the same time, like the battle of the band. Yeah. You know? So for us, straight out the boog of... We was a bunch of kids straight out the boo- of the basement, was [00:14:00] like when we get in that stage, we're gonna give people something, something that they could go home and feel like they, they s- they watch a show.

They enjoy the music. It wasn't just about what you hear on the, on that album, Killing Me Softly. When we get on that stage, we really perform it. Yeah. Like real musician. Mm-hmm. You know what I'm saying? That, that was the most important things for us 'cause we wasn't playing like, okay, go up there just with the dot machine.

No, we getting, we getting our instrument. We're gonna do what we're gonna do. So that's what it, it was about. Yeah. That definitely- Mm ... set it apart. Mm-hmm. Um, so okay, so The Score comes out. It's huge. That propels you, um, onto a whole other level. At that point, you, you know, you're known... You're basically like the fourth Fugee at that point.

How did, how did, um, it, how did your producer career start, like as an individual? Well, after [00:15:00] the, the Score album, I was hot. So we were, Wyclef and I, we was a duo. Uh, call it the, the, the, the Sly and Robbie, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, you know- Yeah ... uh, Pharrell and Chad. You know, things like that. When the two of us, we was like, we was getting called.

Okay, I remember being, um, in the studio while we... I'm working on a carnival, and we got a call to say, um, "There's a four girls group that looking for a song. Uh, can you..." Clef said, "Jerry, we, we have to work on something for them." Four girls Walking to Chongqing at the time. Uh, it was Beyoncé, Destiny's Child.

And they're like, "Do a remix." And we did that song. That was the first Beyoncé song. Which song was that? Uh, No, No, No? No, No, No, Destiny Child, if you know that song. That was the first song that, uh, uh, Beyoncé came, that came out on Beyoncé. Then after that, it was, it was on. It was going on. Then I did, we worked on 911 with Mary J.

[00:16:00] Blige. Then Hips Don't Lie, Shakira. Remember my beginning when I told you about playing merengue music, salsa. These are all... When it was time to do Hips Don't Lie, it was easy for us. I could say we one of the top reggaeton, start reggaeton, 'cause that song, that was the first style of that, uh, music came out, and that song was a classic.

And then got to work with Clive Davis, that asked us to do, you know, "Wyclef, Jerry, y'all need to do a song for Carlos Santana." Then once again, that came with the bass line, the musician. I started that bass line in San Francisco with Carlos Santana. When we walk in the room where Carlos said, "Okay, what we gonna do for Carlos?"

Then I pick up that bass line, and Wyclef, and we are party GMB. And next thing you know, boom, ba-doom, boom, boom. Then we have a Maria Maria. Then Shakira, Hips Don't Lie. And, and, and My [00:17:00] Love Is Your Love. And worked with Busta Rhymes, Alicia Keys, T.I., uh, come on, man, John Legend. Um, so many people that I... You know, all that came from that booga bass line.

S- Okay. We cannot just glaze over Shakira, Hips Don't Lie, though. Because that song was a global, like, phenomenon, okay? That changed Latin music. It, it put Latin music on the map in the mainstream, you know? And, and that song, I mean, I think it's, um, what is... Topped the charts in, in 55 countries, 16 weeks at number one.

Um, at the time, it was the best-selling single of, of the 21st century. Like, you created this song that- I mean, changed the course of Latin music, too. So that, I mean, that's [00:18:00] legacy. You're just, like, building legacy at this point. Well, Shakira was, um, was always a big star in the Spanish world, okay? But she wasn't...

Like, if you was from Brooklyn, you didn't know Shakira. Right, right. Unless you're in the Spanish world . Right. And the whole thing, we wanted to make sure that, you know, um, uh, they came to us. I remember, uh, this, um, uh, the two people that came to the studio and say, "Yeah, we need that song." And, um, once again, sometime a song is never old.

Mm-hmm. That same Hips Don't Lie music, I created that, we created that for, for a movie dance with, um, a band called City High that I signed, uh, Claude that sing the same song. It's the same song we took over, put it back in the microwave and just say, "Let's make it fresh," but we make it again. So, so that song came out twice, so I got paid twice on that song, so you know.[00:19:00] 

Okay? So, so that's a... But what we did, though, we ch- we add, uh, the, the drums, changed the drums, and that's when reggaeton was just about to start. And, um- It's, uh, it's, uh, it's, it's how do you take a artist from a different market and insert that artist to a different, to another market, which was Shakira now not only was just, um, a Latin artist, but she, she went into the R&B world, to the pop world, to the soul world- Mm-hmm

to the hip hop world, you know? So that's what this song was. We was able to capture that- Yeah ... with, uh, well, for Shakira. Till today, you know, she performed the World Cup. Till today,

that song is still a classic. A classic's a classic, and I'm glad I was a part of that classic. Timeless. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that, that song made her an icon. Yeah. Um, okay, so [00:20:00] let's talk about, let's talk about working with Whitney. What was that like? Well, uh, once again, Whitney's from New Jersey. We all know that.

And, um, I grew up in East Orange, Newark, Irvington, and, and I worked with Queen Latifah, of course, Meshell, um, you know, top women, Beyoncé that time, Mary J. Blige at the time. But I always wanna work with Whitney. Yes. And we got a call from Clive Davis and, you know, of course, we had to meet with Bobby first.

And I remember in the studio. Then we start this song on a tour bus, and My Love Is Your Love with Wyclef, you know, my co-pilot, and we were the team together and working that song. But when I met Whitney, it was a vibe, and I find out... Any Leos in the house? You know Leos . Right here. You're a Leo too, right?

Yeah. So, um, find out she, we had the same birthday. Oh, wow. So that's definitely helped us to work together [00:21:00] closer. And, and My Love Is Your Love is one of my favorite. And that kept a great friendship for till she was, she, she passed away. And, you know, we grew up in the same neighborhood, which was lovely.

Yeah. That's wild. Um, Michael Jackson. How did that happen? Oh, yeah. Michael Jackson was, um Michael, uh, we got to do a remix, Blood on the Dance Floor, some song, uh, you know, one of the song which was great. And we was at The Hit Factory. All I know, we got a call saying Michael Jackson wanna come meet us. We was at The Hit Factory.

The Hit Factory is one of the studio. I think your company was at The Hit Factory, 54th Street, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, um, there's this special entrance. You know, we all use the front entrance. Michael got his own entrance. All I know, we in a bigger studio. Next thing you know- Michael Jackson didn't use the [00:22:00] regular entrance.

He had his own elevator and, and pop up in the studio. But he was such a nice person. I'm glad. When he walked in I was like, "No, that's not Michael. What?" But it's that stay in your head. But it was great meeting him. And I remember that, um, he was really a sweet, wonderful man, and talented, and we got to meet him.

He was a great guy. He's one of- Yeah ... the, the greats. Yeah. The greats. Um, talk to me about, uh, how, you know, I mean, you've said this before about your catalog, that you would never sell it. And, you know, we're like in this day and age where people are buying and selling their catal- You know, that's, it, it's become such an important asset.

The finance world has definitely jumped in and, and they see how valuable music is as an asset. Why won't you sell your catalog? I get bad news. Um, I, [00:23:00] someone talk to me every day. Every two days I get a phone call, "Do you wanna sell?" Well, remember in the beginning I said my mom entrepreneur had to put me and donkey and buy, you know-

buy and sell. So I learn, um, I invest, investment. I invest into, uh, my talent, which was I invested the Booga Basement that create, you know, that Booga Basement, Akon, like- Mm-hmm ... create all these artists. For me, then 2001 I build a studio. I invest a few million dollars and, um, I re- I start a studio called Platinum Sounds.

My first client was Tom Jones. My second client was Janet Jackson. And, um, so that studio, for me, the only way I was able to build that studio because of my publishing. Yeah. And doing a lot of production. I put millions into it. So after that, [00:24:00] my b- keep building up that catalog. I feel really connected to my catalog.

They my ba- my songs are my baby, babies. It just happened to be, what, last year finally I did sign a crazy contract, but finally I got my catalog back. So I own my catalog 100%, right? Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And that catalog, even with Sony, ATV, they offer me, they're like, "Do you know, why don't you take money?

We give you this." I was like, "No, thank you. I'm not selling it." And why I feel connected to it, I like slow money. Every quarter I get paid for my BMI, for my Sony ATV, and I own it now. I do whatever I want. Because they're my... That's my baby. And if I take the [00:25:00] money now, there's two things. There's a way that I could just go ahead and say I could take the fund and, and go invest at different places.

I'm doing that anyway. I have different investment, different places anyway. Or, and still go figure it out, at least you're gonna end up between 20 to 30% in my tax bracket, and it's gonna be in the news. Oh my, by the way, you know, we refugees, we have a lot of families and people are gonna be like, "Yo, y- I just saw you pull up," you know.

I don't wanna see the numbers, okay? "Uh, can we get this? Can we get that?" I'm like, "Slow down. It's okay. Keep it low." So I won't sell. That don't mean I'm never going to sell. I'm not saying that. But guess what? My God, it would take a lot for me to really sign that to any corporation. I mean, you know- It's gonna take a minute

Bob Dylan [00:26:00] later in li- I mean, later in life, right, maybe it's a- That's what I see that. Yeah. But for now- 200 million dollars. You know, I just tell you it's not even about the dollar sign. Yeah, yeah. It's a mi- a mindset because, you know, I'm talking to m- you know, one of the things that I'm a- adding right now, 'cause I bring music to school system.

Mm. To the young people, you know. Um, 'cause that publishing, I remember before I have that catalog, it wasn't easy. I pay a lot of dues. And in the beginning, I lost a lot of publishing. Yes, I got the credits, but I did not know the credits come with a percentage of the song. And was that because you- You weren't advocating for yourself for the, for the splits, for your splits, or, or you didn't have someone, [00:27:00] uh, guiding you through that?

What was... Why didn't you get the publishing that you should have received? In the beginning, it was passion. It was me listening to my music on the radio, me be like, "Oh my God, I was in the studio working with[00:28:00] 

Can I make sure that I get, um, I get publishing on everything? They all agreed that I get a percentage, and I didn't wanna mess up. Every night I'm making 2,500 on stage [00:29:00] or 5,000, uh, at night. I wasn't making that money. I was like, "No, I'm not gonna mess up that." And I'm jumping on stage getting paid and at the time, so I didn't mess that away, and I think that was the best decision.

And one of the things I'm glad, I still go back. Sometime information is good, but information take away from the creating because when you're in the studio you know you're losing. You, your heart while you creating, that's that little thing that you, "Ah, no, they doing wrong by me" and you's taking away from the crea- creation of the music.

So I'm glad I did not know about the information, but, uh, maybe I wouldn't be where I'm at. I'm one... I'm different. I guess I believe on the road that I took to be somewhere, not, "Oh my God, I wish I know. Maybe if I did that I wouldn't be having all this number one. My catalog wouldn't be where it's at right now," 'cause I don't have to work anymore if I d- I only work because I [00:30:00] don't have a option, 'cause in my DNA I have to work.

I do what I do. Yeah, I mean, you're, uh, the hardest working person I've, I know. Definitely. You don't sleep. This man does not sleep. I'm telling you. Mm. It's crazy. I don't know. You have so much energy and you're constantly working. You don't have to be in the studio. At this point in your career you really don't need to be in the studio if you don't want to.

You're making money in your sleep with your catalog. Lots of money in your sleep. So, you know, I mean, if knowing what you do know now, would you have done things differently with the Fugees and, and how that all broke d- how that all went down? No. No? Um, I think I'm somebody that like peace of mind, and I like to add value in everybody's life.

If I know you, you need something, I'm going to. And the only thing is I could sit back here and have a story [00:31:00] to tell, that I, I look back and say, "Hmm, maybe they coulda, you know, helped me out on that." But it doesn't matter. It's where I'm at today. It's what I'm doing today. Sitting in front of you today is the most important.

And adding value to the young student. I got over 600 students that I work with that wanna get in music business, so I'm telling them, you know, the dos and the don'ts and the information that they need to know. I think it's more important. Yeah, I mean, that's a, that's an important story. That lesson that you learned- Yeah

definitely propelled you in a different way- Yeah ... probably, um, to create a Hips Don't Lie and, uh, Carlos Santana's, you know, Maria Maria and, and all of these giant hits. Maybe it wouldn't have happened that way if, if you had been so comfortable, or maybe you just would've kept doing hip hop. I don't know.

Oh, no. Maybe it would've been so much better. It just that maybe I would've done so [00:32:00] much more, but I just believe that where I'm at today, I'm comfortable, you know? And that's more important, and I'm sitting a, like, I'm sitting on a board of the Academy, you know, learning so much information with the GRAMMYs.

I'm... There's a few company, um, that I'm sitting on the board. I'm partner of, you know, one of the company that I'm working with the artists, you know, tech to team and that's what I'm working on, uh, helping, um, helping out for songwriters. There's Vassar College where I sit down on the board for, you know, with art and, and what education that I'm doing different, you know, going to different country, different state, adding value.

You pick music, I'm there. I'm a... That information, I make sure all the young people I'm working on, I'm giving that. And, um, uh, my studio in New York called Platinum Sounds, if any of you in New York, you should visit. And it's like we have a lot of intern we giving from NYU students, from, you know, all the [00:33:00] infrastructures.

We adding a lot of value. For me, give back is the key. That's where my heart gives. You ask me right now what I love doing, my most important thing is give back to p- to people. Yeah. That's beautiful. And what you do for those young kids is life-changing. I mean, music changed your life, um, definitely, right?

What, um... I mean, you've had a, you've had a crazy life, and you've done a lot. What's, what's left? Well- What's left to do? What do you want... What, what, what does the future hold? What left for me to do is just, um, doing this. I want to do more of those and go to different part of the world, make music. I'm working on a, on a song right now, uh, that's I'm so excited, and that's part one.

And I'm so excited to adding value, 'cause music connect people, connect culture. And there's something that just happened in Jamaica right now where they lost housing and, and, and the- [00:34:00] with the, with the, the hurricane they had. Uh, and we know how much we, we all love Jamaica, so I decided to do a We Are... Our own, my own version of We Are the World for Jamaica.

I have 70 artists on it and one song. I've been working on it for three months. And I'm talking about artists like... It goes from Gwen Stefani, that, you know, No Doubt, to, to Melissa Etheridge, to Busta Rhymes, T.I., uh, Wyclef, and, and, and, and UB40, and, and it's, it's really cra- The culture is crazy. 40 different artists.

So for me, and I'm doing it, my partner on it is Buju Banton. You know? I don't know if you know Bu- you guys know Buju. We got Buju in there and all these artists, and we're going to raise funds. For me, this is a legacy for me. And I know I'm working on finding the next Whitney Houston, the next Lauryn Hill, the next Wyclef, the next [00:35:00] Akon, the next Busta Rhymes, the next Michael Jackson, the next Shakira, 'cause I'm bringing music to the high schoolers.

Some of the high school I'm working with, 80% are Hispanic. Um, some of them are 80% is all Black school. Then the other one, Portuguese school. Then, and the Haitians and more the, the island, the, the, the Africans and then the, you know. For me, that's the value where I'm at, and I won't stop because that's, um, God put me in this world where I was.

I don't even re- remember the, the kids that I grew up when I was eight years old, 'cause a lot of them not alive, came from a country like Haiti. You know, that suffering. And music took me here. And God gave me, well, he handpicked me and put me in this spot. So give back for me, my life for me right now, I'm, I'm sh- I'm all set.

And now it's just add value, give back. That was my [00:36:00] purpose. Yeah. Um, what's the favorite song that... Your favorite song that you ever produced? Um, probably not your favorite song, Hotel Rwanda. I got a Golden Globe nomination for that and 'cause it was what, what was stand for genocides, and it was a song that anytime...

Um, I left Haiti because, um, I went to Haiti around, uh, the, um, around that time where the last president left, um, and it was a lot of killing in Haiti, and we was helping with the gang. Then by the time we land at the airport, they're like, "There's a movie coming out." We went, "Oh, can you, uh, guys watch it and give us a song?"

And that was a really special song, and I think that song means a lot to me. But every song I produce, they're all special to me. They're my babies, and there's a story, you know, behind it, what I was going through in life, happiness or sad [00:37:00] or, or anything. I have too many favorite, but that's, that one is just really special to me, and I only...

I bought a bass guitar just for it, a different fretless bass, I remember, to play on, on that record. It's really good. That's dope. Um, is there an artist that you haven't worked with yet that you would love to collaborate with? You know what? I do have a, a few artists that I haven't worked with, but, um, when the time is right, 'cause I work with anybody.

Remember, my style is everything. Like, y'all go from country music to, to hip hop to R&B. I'm a musician. For me, all I wanna do is create great music with legacy, and I pick. I'm not... I don't go in the studio because somebody say, "Go in the studio with the artist" anymore. It was a time, "Oh my God, work with that person, that" No.

It gotta mean something and, and we got, I gotta click with you. Yeah. Any [00:38:00] artist right now. I work with the best already. So for me, it gotta mean something and, and I'm not running so hungry to just be in the studio with all. I'm in the studio. I create my own music. I have a catalog 10, over 10,000 songs that people haven't heard yet.

Probably like 20 of Melissa Etheridge, Wyclef 50, John Legend 20, uh, Mary J. Blige 10 I haven't put out. Um, Miss Hills so many. I have, I have a whole Fugee album nobody heard yet. What? Yes. Yes. Yeah, nobody heard yet. I, I just, that's me. I, the, my, they all of my- Okay ... they all drop. We're, we're, we're gonna talk after this.

I'm starting a label. Um, seriously, that's crazy. Yeah. Do they know, do they know that you have that? Uh, they, they know they have some that they don't know what happened. They know now. Well, I was with Misael the other day. You know, there's, um, [00:39:00] anybody, um, f- the Score album, if you listen, there's a song Cowboys, the, you know, that one song.

Um, it's always one of my favorite record on that Score because, uh, there's a guy named John Forte and he passed away about a couple months ago. And, um, I went to the... They did a special for him, and I went there. Wyclef was there and Misael. The, the, we all show up and we, we didn't know. Maybe they know they was gonna be there.

They didn't know I was gonna be there. I didn't know they was gonna be there. I show up and I was there. And the minute we, it, we looking at each other, we was like, "Oh my God, let's perform." And by the way, we don't perform for a long time. And they're like, "There's instrument." There was a bass. I pick up the bass and, and, and Lon pick up the microphone.

Wyclef pick up a guitar. We was like, "What we doing? What key was Sweetest Thing was?" And I was like, "Okay, Sweetest Thing. We did that. Okay, what key was b- w- uh, Killing Me Softly? What can we play it?" [00:40:00] B flat. Okay. And, and all of a sudden we didn't have a drummer, but you just see, oh my God, it was the most acoustic...

Think about you listening to this song acoustically. And for me, and we're looking at each other, we was like, "We should do an acoustic set And, um, I was at SOB's the other night. Uh, Lauren was there. L. Boogie said, "Jerry, you know, we got- don't forget, we gotta do an acoustic, uh, performance." But that's what I'm talking about mu- musicianship, and we all connected with that.

I w- I would never let money come in the middle of that. Yeah. Because that's what, that's what music for me, that's what it's about. You know what I mean? So there's a lot... I'm looking for a lot of new artists, 'cause all I wanna do, sit down with a new artist. I love new artists. You know why? Because they're so open.

You know, when I work with Miguel, this happened with Miguel, oh my God. We have so many songs, but with Miguel, we playing rock guitar. You know, it's concert and [00:41:00] pl- it's like, for me, I love musicianship. You play guitar? Come on. You got great vocals? I'ma go pick up my bass. Let's go crazy. So for me, that's what I wanna do.

Yeah. I mean, you, when you're playing bass, I'm, you have the giant smile on your face and you look so happy. I've never seen you happier than when you're playing bass, honestly. Oh. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Well, yeah, um, playing bass guitar is one of my favorite thing and, you know, I'll never stop playing.

Well, you're kinda good at it, so. Yeah. Thank you. Um, what makes Jerry Wonda a great producer? A great listener Uh, w- if you think about working, I go from hip hop to R&B to, you know. The other day, um, I was in the studio. I was doing a reggae record. Like, I'm, what I'm doing the Gym for Jamaica with the 70 artists, [00:42:00] and I was there.

We... And every ar- a few artists that come into on the song be like, "Jerry, can you have a beat? Can we do something?" I have one of the, you know, one of the record that I just did a couple months ago. No, no, a month ago, while I was doing vocals with T.I. came to my studio, and we recorded in my studio. And he's like, "Yo, Jerry, I'm done.

I got a little more time." I said, "Yeah?" I said, "Buju, give me a hook." And I cooked that beat right away, and it's not even out. One of them other 10,000 songs. I told you I got... And, and he just went, and that was the first record with T.I. and Buju. And so for me, that's what I'm talking about organically. Create music.

Forget about rules. So for me, every style of music. I could do a country record. I could do a merengue. I could do a bachata record. Cumbia. Hip hop. So Melissa Etheridge, we have, like, 20 [00:43:00] songs. And guess what Melissa Etheridge listen to? Reggae music, hip hop. She know more hip hop records than me. You know what I'm saying to you?

So that's, that's, that's what I'm about. That's awesome. Um, I wonder if... Do we have time for Q&A? Mm-hmm. Yeah? Okay. Does anybody have questions? Let's... Do you want... You, you cool to do Q&A? Oh, p- please. Yeah, yeah. Please. We have a microphone or... Yeah. Um, yeah. Let's, let's do some Q&A. Yeah, yeah. Please. Let's do it.

There's... Yeah. There's the sound of the baby right in the house. Come on. That's good. I'm gonna sample that. I'm gonna make a track.

I'm gonna sing for the baby. Hi. Yeah. We'll clear our mics. It's on. Let's go. So, um, technically I'm not supposed to be saying anything, but, uh, I think I speak for everybody in here. Uh, so when's the other Fugees album coming out?[00:44:00] 

Since you said it, it's been in my head. I done sent four text messages already. Yeah, we need that, for sure. W- But thank you for everything that you've done, for sure. Thank you. Thank you, brother. Um, I had a question. So whenever you create music, how do you know when something is finished and it doesn't need to be touched?

Like, do you have somebody in your team that, you know, you play stuff that you've been working on and you depend on them to say, "Oh yeah, don't touch that. It's, it's done," or do you kinda serve that purpose yourself? Like, what do you think? Listen, man. I love, by the way, the hat is a swag. Likewise. It's a swag.

I just gotta say that quick. You know, that's family right here. Um, the key is a song never done 'til it's master. Because we could always go back and when we recording, [00:45:00] we keep adding things. There's a reason that Killing Me Softly, or Carlos' Maria Maria, I don't know if you listen to those songs. Ma- um, Maria Mal- um, Killing Me Softly had a whole full music, you know.

Um, even there's a few version. That song end up, while we were mixing, we like, "Hold up. Drum and bass. Space." It doesn't matter. And, and for me, I always love when the chorus is just s- um, when the verses are simple, and when the chorus come in, you build it up. And remember nothing take away the lyrics and the melody.

And don't get married to a part. 'Cause we like, "Oh my God, I love this part so much," and your best friend come in and say, "I don't know. If I was you, [00:46:00] I wouldn't put that." So bring people in when you're creating. And, oh, for me, when I'm in the studio, I love when people don't do music. They have no idea what an instrument is, and these are the people I listen to a lot.

I'm like, "What do you think on that mix?" They're like, "Well, I think this is good. That..." I'm like, "Okay." Unless you feel like they trying to be a producer now. Now, the minute you, you have to ... So a song is not never done till it, till it, it goes out, because you could always just always remember, don't get married to a part, but keep adding everything that's in your head.

Then after that, get ready. It's like you go to the supermarket, you're cooking, and you go to the supermarket, you buy, you buy everything. Oft- then you use everything. But you make sure everything is there. So for [00:47:00] me, leave as simple as possible. And, uh, you're a wonderful musician. I'm a big fan of your, uh, uh, your talent and, and, uh, your legacy.

I like that. I see you got a long way going, 'cause the musicianship is really important, and your voice is wonderful. I'm a big fan of yours. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that, that woman next to you, I met her many years ... Oh, yeah, you could clap for him. That, he deserve that clap. Young artist, okay? And, and the person next to you, I didn't know.

I was always in the studio. She's the first one that came to the studio and say, "ITune, ITune, ITune." Was like, "What the heck is iTunes?" Yeah, she was the one that say, uh ... But thank you. Thank you for coming to this panel. Yeah, yeah. Please, thank you.

Hi. [00:48:00] You are a legend for us. I am from Brazil, and, uh, I want to know if you know Brazilian music and if you like it. And do you think you have space to be worldwide, uh, the Brazilian music?

One of the 10,000 songs that I have uh, I, I have funk music on it. Funk. You know, there's funk music? There's funk music on it. And, uh, Brazilian music, I love it so much, and I've been doing that over two decades. And there's a artist named Daniela Mercury. Yes. Ah. I'm a worldwide. I go everywhere. India, China, I'm everywhere.

So but Brazilian music is so wonder- There's different style of Brazilian music. You know, especially right now, if you going like the [00:49:00] super, the, the, the gutty, the, the, the, the... In Brazil, they have that style, that funk music. It's so good, and we're using it. Even I'm putting on R&B music now. I'm putting on pop music, and it's 'cause it's all a, um, um...

It's all about the, what do you call it? The style, the instrument that we adding to it.

There we go. She start moving already. Yes. So thank you. I love Brazilian music. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. All the way in the back. You got a question? Yes.

uh, do you have a process or a formula on creating a, a good hook? Is it, uh, as a producer, as an artist? Um, [00:50:00] as an artist. Okay. Creating a good hook you're saying? A song? I'm trying to catch what you were saying. Yeah, like when, uh, I guess something that's catchy, something that's, you know, you say keep it simple.

I would assume that that kinda goes into the process of, like, making a good hook even when producing your music or producing a song. Um, I guess, yeah, is there a formula? Do you have some sort of a process on, on what you use kind of to, I guess, uh, make something catchy or good or, or, uh, I don't know. I don't know if I'm asking it right, I'm sorry.

No, you're asking a good question. Because what happen, a verse telling the story, the hook is just locking it. Mm-hmm. And because you repeat the hook over maybe four times in a song, that's what people going to remember. And i- if, if you think about [00:51:00] people sometime they make a hook, um, a song of a hook where they make it so complicated.

Remember, a hook you have to keep bringing back. So your verses break it down. The hook take you there. Thank you. As simple as possible. And if you have, um, well, I always tell people, "When you're doing a hook, always leave like a little, a little post in the hook." The post take you is the magic. Or even a, a pre-hook, 'cause you got the verse, you got a pre-hook.

'Cause a lot of song format, people say, "There's my intro. I start with the verse. Then I go pre-hook. And there's the hook. There's a second verse. Then I go with the pre-hook. There's a hook. Then there's my bridge." Or people say, "I start with the hook." Once again, it's all about the story. Thank you. [00:52:00] Yes

It's okay. Who's next? You can go ahead. Yeah

That they, um... Oh, there's a mic. There's a mic. Hello. Where do you feel like they waste their most money and their time starting their career? Okay, first, I always said, "Remember, you're not selling clothes. You're not selling housing. You're selling music. It's a song. Put your time and create a great product."

'Cause a lot of artists, they not putting time on the product that they doing. They doing everything else, but it's more about focusing, getting a great, a great pro- You know, with EP Fan, [00:53:00] a fan base or- Yeah, the music. Then after that, you, a lot of money gonna spend, especially now in marketing. Marketing, marketing.

Real estate saying location, location. I say, "Oh, this marketing, marketing is the key." You have to invest on it. People gotta know. You have to invest on yourself, and that's the key. But don't forget the product, and stop thinking so much of the business, the business, the business, the business. Then it's, you starting not thinking about creating something good because I always said people could steal from you, but one thing they cannot take from you Your soul, your talent.

Because when you give great music, your content, somebody gonna catch it. Yeah, the first contract gonna be wrong, but I tell you, you could always get out a contract. There's no contract on this planet you cannot get out. Yes, you will get out, out a contract. But when [00:54:00] you give them, when you give them great music, your music travels.

Your music travels. It's gonna get you to places. And there's a movie, I don't know if you, anybody watched this movie called, uh, Searching for the Sugar Man. Anybody knows about that movie? Great movie. Yes. Such a great movie because that's when you know your talent come first. And, and at the end of the day, this guy think he wasn't famous, and he was the Michael Jackson in South Africa, and they thought he was dead.

Then next thing you know, he goes there, he makes so much money, and he thought he was g- almost gave up, and I think he might've come from Austin or Texas somewhere, right? Something like that. Yeah. And at the end of the day, but I don't wanna give too much about the movie. Focus in your craft first. Focus in your talent.

Let's focus on that, and you got everything gonna work out. Always work out I think that's probably a, almost, [00:55:00] like, a good spot to wrap up. Um, one last piece of advice- Oh, okay ... that- I think there's one- Oh, oh, there's one more. One more. We got one more question. One more, one more. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, man, you've...

First of all, thank you for your time. Uh, I really appreciate you being here. Uh, my name is Cannon, I'm an artist out of Chicago, now living in Phoenix, Arizona. Um, you've worked on so many timeless records, right? You've worked with artists like Shakira, mega artists from Colombia. You know, my family's from Colombia, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta.

Um, you know, so it's a, it's a m- amazing moment to see you here. Um, what do you feel, uh, an artist may be missing, uh, what emotional ingredient do you feel like an artist misses to make these timeless, classic records? And if there were a 30-second moment you had with an artist where he [00:56:00] walked in the studio or you walked in the studio with him, what would gravitate you to this artist as well?

For me, uh, I, I need something that the artist got that's really special. What is it? What make you different? Okay. And a lot of time I work with the artists that don't play instrument, but the voice is some special way about, about the voices. Like, every artist you know, like you say Shakira, you know that's Shakira.

You know, uh, Lauryn Hill, you know that's Lauryn Hill. You know, you know, when you say Chicago, you know John Legend. It's a certain artist that I wo- even Akon got, had... I work with from the beginning, had his own thing. Every artist I work with, I look for something that when a artist, you have it, you know.

And I need somebody that just like, don't settle for less. Let's really sit down and come up with, um, y- y- what style of [00:57:00] music you wanna do? Do you wanna copy somebody? Can you be you? Because we're not, we're not copy, we're not copycat. We're not going to copy nobody. Let's put energy on you, and if you don't have the pen, you have the voice, I'm bringing the pen person.

Remember, there's artists, there's writers. A lot of writers don't wanna be an artist. That's what they there, but they so dope, and there's a artist that have the voice. Beyoncé didn't write most of her records. A lot, even Michael Jackson had writers, but he was a great writers. John Legend, so many artists that I work with, they're great writers too.

But at the same time, you have artists that say, "I have to write my own, my own song." But that's not what you do. Let's do that. You have the voice. All I care about, what's your talent, and I, I will catch it, and if you don't have it, I'mma tell, I'mma send you home. Come back and see me in a couple months.

That's it[00:58:00] 

That's good? All right. Thank you. Amazing. Thank you so much. Jerry Wonder, y'all. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to Taking Care of Your Music Business. Don't forget, you can watch full video episodes on our YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.