Today we’d like to introduce you to Osunjii Yeldell.
Hi Osunjii, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born to a young married couple in Chicago in 1968. My mother was 17 and my father was 18. By the time I was three, I had a little sister and my mother and father separated. My mother moved on and had my younger brother when I was six. My brother’s father was very abusive to my mother and after enduring it over five years, she joined the army and moved us all to North Carolina. I was always an entertainer. I loved to sing and dance at an early age. My mother told me that at the age of four, I gave a greyhound bus full of riders a full concert of Gladys knight, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight songs. My great grandmother on my father’s side would always tell me that I had a special light shining on me. But at a very early age, that light started to get snuff out as I began to be molested by several people in and outside of my family up until I was 12 years old.
By the time I was 16, I found myself pregnant and that light was a small flicker. But I didn’t let all that happened to me kill my dream of entertaining people. I hit as many stages as I could singing and rapping all over Fayetteville N. C. and surrounding areas. Though I was pursuing my dreams, I would hide my severe depression and feeling of worthless, dirtiness, insecure, etc. I only felt alive on stage. When I was just three months shy of graduating from high school, my mother got a job in Charlotte. Once I graduated in 1986, approximately three months later I tried crack cocaine. Trying it just once turned into a 22 years habit. I gained a lost everything over and over during those years. Including my five children. In 2009, I decided to get clean. And the world opened up for me. I have been blessed to now act and do stand up comedy. I never let the dream to entertain die. Opportunities have been given to me that has been allowing me to live my best life. I have been voted ATLs Hottest Female Comedian three years in a row. I only plan to go up from here.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Once I became clean, the struggles became different. I see the struggles and challenges that I face as achievable goals that I need to accomplish. I would not say that everything has been a smooth road, but I feel good knowing that I have what it takes to make it as smooth as possible.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I currently act at the Trap Music Museum. In the role as “Trap House Trina”. I am super proud to be able to work in an environment that does show the struggles as well as a lot of positivity that came from the “crack culture”. I am well known for making people laugh and feel good about life! What sets me apart from a lot of my peers and a lot of people may not know this but I currently hold a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science as well as a master’s degree in psychology.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Listen and learn. This is what has worked for me. Anyone can be a mentor. I think it’s more about the student. You can learn what and what not to do from anybody.
Contact Info:
- Email: imsosunjii@gmail.com
- Instagram: @osunjii_trap_house_trina
- Facebook: Osunjii Yeldell
- Twitter: @sunjii
