Omari Castle (Gennis) was born October 2, 1996 in Long Beach, CA. Akoye Castle (Tool) was born October 29, 1997 in Berkeley, CA.
Both boys fell in love with music at a young age. By the ages 5 and 6 they were already recording music in a recording studio. Tool’s Grandfather is Terry Carter Co-Owner of Heavyweight Records which was also owned by Ice Cube. The boys father worked for the label as an intern. This situation allowed both boys to be around the music business almost 24/7. By the ages 8 and 9, Tool and Gennis wrote they first song “How They Do That”.
They had found a cd with there cousin Talent’s (Producer for NewBoyz) beats on it and wrote the song. They practiced for weeks nervous to approach there dad with the song. Finally they built up the courage to play the track and spit there lyrics to there dad. Upon hearing the song there father was so impressed he immediately booked them a studio session to record the song. At that moment the brothers became a group. They were put on a school tour called P.A.C.E. which traveled to different schools performing for the students. While on that tour they became good friends with another group trying to get there music heard; “NewBoyz”. The Wonderbroz then known as GT controlled the Middle Schools. They became an instant hit on the tour gaining new fans every show. After over a year on the tour and gaining interest from labels such as Atlantic Records, Interscope Records, and DefJam, tragedy struck the group.
There mentor, manager, and father was placed in a federal jail for 10 months. Although devastating to the boys they continued to write and work hard to be prepared for when there time would come knocking. That time came in July of 2010 when there father after being released had a meeting with Nick Cannon. There father is the manager of the NewBoyz and during the meeting he played Nick Cannon there “Chitty Chitty” song. Nick loved the sound and requested to meet the boys the next day. After meeting Nick Cannon the next day on the set of America’s Got Talent, Nick stated to the boys that he wants to sign them. Nick saw them as the 9th Wonder of the world because of there skills and being brothers so he changed the name of the group to the “Wonder Brothers”.
Source: http://executivelevelent.com/wonder/portfolio/wonder-bio/
