Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born 9 August 1975) is a Haitian music producer and musician. His first major success was as a producer for Fugees' 1996 album The Score. He also played the bass guitar with the Fugees, and group member Wyclef Jean is his cousin.
Music career
Early life
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis was born and raised in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. At 14, he began playing the bass. Early influences at this time included Aston Barrett, and James Jamerson. At 16, he was sent to the US and was raised by his father and his aunt who was also Wyclef's mother. The basement of their family home soon became their home studio.
From church to some time at the Institute of Audio Research, and gigs wherever he could play, their home studio "Booga Basement" was opened serving artists near New Jersey. Wyclef, Samuel Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill would then unite to create a new Caribbean style group ultimately known as the Fugees. Wonda and Wyclef would align to provide production for the group which would be signed by Ruffhouse/Columbia. Label mates at the time would include Cypress Hill and Kris Kross.
Jerry Wonda/Wyclef Jean years
Jerry performing onstage.
Jerry Wonda and Wyclef Jean's producing took off with the Fugees. Their cover of the Roberta Flack classic "Killing Me Softly" sung by lead vocalist Lauryn Hill reached No. 2 on the Pop charts and No. 1 on the R&B charts. Co-produced by Wonda, their album The Score became one of the best-selling hip hop albums of all time gaining worldwide recognition.[citation needed]
Wonda and Wyclef made history in 2000. Santana's Supernatural single "Maria Maria", which Wonda co-produced, held the No. 1 chart position for 10 weeks. In 2006, the duo produced Shakira's worldwide hit "Hips Don't Lie" from the album Oral Fixation Vol. 2. It became the top-selling song of the 21st century and reached No. 1 in more than 50 countries, leading Shakira to be the 1st female Colombian singer to top Billboard's Hot 100 chart. They also co-wrote "My Love Is Your Love" for Whitney Houston's album of the same name.[citation needed]