Today we’d like to introduce you to Tearra Oso.
Hi Tearra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up learning, performing and teaching the Afro Boricua art form, Bomba, which was created by the enslaved West African people on the sugar cane plantations of Boriquen (Puerto Rico) in the 1500s. They used West African rhythms and dance, coupled with flamenco movements which was poking fun at their colonizers (the Spanish). The songs were in Spanish since they were forced to only speak Spanish. Living in Minneapolis in 2020 during the murder of George Floyd and being a former classmate of Philando Castile, I was moved to not only play this music that my Afro Boricua ancestors used to metabolize their pain, I decided to create an album based on Bomba rhythms, in English and Spanish to tell stories of our time like we do in Bomba, and provide calming pieces to help soothe the nervous systems of those who need it, particularly activists who put their bodies on the front lines standing up for justice.
In 2018, I began working with youth advocacy and health/wellness organization Irreducible Grace Foundation where I am trained and teach trauma-informed breath work and theater based art therapy to different groups of people from students to teachers, law enforcement, and community leaders. This work is interwoven in the lyrics of my debut album as I introduce affirmations of peace, safety, and also shaking out stress from the physical body. I decided to name the project “PREZ” as a talking point for us to be the presidents of ourselves as we have the responsibility to shape our perspectives to support our well-being, communities, and the world, even with community support, and also the need for self-preservation practices to be prevalent in our everyday routines to lead our best lives, especially for those who do the heart-wrenching work of social justice.
I’m grateful for arts programming in the Twin Cities that shaped who I am today, particularly Mila Llaugher who led the Afro Boricua dance, drum and vocal school “El Arco Iris” and Jan Mandell who led the “Black Box Theater” at Central High School in St. Paul for decades and is now the Program Director at Irreducible Grace Foundation (IGF). Dr. Darlene Fry founded IGF in 2012, which provides mentoring, life skills, employment, self-care practices, and safe space for teens and young adults. My latest project, “PREZ” was supported by funding by the McKnight Foundation and MRAC’s Next Step Fund to write and record each piece. Arts programming and funding in the Twin Cities motivate and inspire artists to create meaningful work that impacts the community and I truly believe this is a powerful way to make the world a better place.
As a musician and actor, I’ve worked with many talented artists who have taught me a lot about recording and producing art, most notably John Paris of Earth, Wind & Fire, and Rick Rock of the legendary Minneapolis band Mint Condition. I’ve also appeared in film and television alongside Halle Berry (Extant) and Ben Affleck and Zoe Saldana (Live by Night). I’ve learned to write lyrics, compose melodies and harmonies, and produce music and film.
I plan to continue learning about and teaching Bomba, and encouraging everyone to learn about their ancestors and how we can use ancestral healing practices to ground and propel ourselves to live in harmony in this space and time. I also created a new genre called BombaPop which modernizes Bomba to include new instrumentation and lyrics in both English and Spanish. I’m excited to see how this music can transform people’s minds and actions.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There is no roadmap to being an artist so it has definitely been a road that has changed drastically, sometimes by the minute and has required a thick skin. As a musician, I’ve worked with many people who turned out to be people who have very different values than mine, so it can sometimes feel like you’ve spent so much time and energy on art that you decide you don’t want to be released to the world. I say it’s important to look at challenges as learning experiences and sometimes you can use lyrics or other pieces of art that you want to rework into something different later on.
I think it’s also good to learn about psychology to understand the tendencies of predatory people. I’ve experienced a number of people who manipulate folks who are kind and it’s so important to protect ourselves physically and mentally. We have to follow our intuition and not assume everyone has as big of a heart as some of us, and at the same time, continuously build ourselves up to know who we are and stay true to ourselves as we navigate space that may be competitive or exploitative.
As an actor, it was also a challenge to find new work almost daily to keep up on bills. When I lived in Los Angeles, so many productions were so far away from each other and networking felt like such an important part of finding more work so I had to decide which things I had enough gas money for and make sure I was always ready to run to set since some productions ask you to show up in 20 minutes.
I also participated in some productions that happened in the middle of the night or were on the beach at night, which can lead to a weakened immune system, so I kept as positive an attitude as possible and learned to be more selective with which kinds of scenes I would accept and know in my heart that if I passed up an opportunity, that I would always have what I needed at the end of the day.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I created a new genre called BombaPop which couples traditional AfroBoricua rhythms with Pop/Funk/R&B/Hip Hop instrumentation and both English and Spanish lyrics. I am proud to teach African diasporic history to audiences I come in contact with and encourage folks to learn more about their ancestors to better understand our bloodlines, ourselves, and the miracle of us being here today. I am also proud to incorporate healing practices like hums and barrel drums in my music as well as transformative lyrics that speak about harsh truths that are inundating some of our lives today plus the importance of grounding ourselves and continuing the work of social justice to give everyone a chance to live liberated lives, including the Earth and our descendants.
I play many instruments (percussion, guitar, piano, flute, vocals), write my own lyrics, melodies, harmonies and backup vocals, and dance AfroBoricua movement, Bomba. I’ve released 2 previous musical EPs titled, “Art Projects, Vol. 1” and “Art Projects, Vol. 2” that also touch on transformation and understanding ourselves and each other.
I’ve performed my original music nationally and internationally, and also had an international career in modeling working with such companies as 3M, Aveda, Target, and Project Runway designers.
In my latest project which is my debut full-length album “PREZ”, I produced, recorded and wrote most of the 14 songs myself, with some production help from Andres Guzman and Rick Rock from Mint Condition. I have two music videos out so far with this project for the songs, “Drum Peace” and “Griot del Rio” which means storyteller of the river. You can listen and/or download all the songs on streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, YouTube, and Bandcamp. I hope you feel grounded and transformed after you experience the pieces from this album.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Knowing who you are and remembering who you are every day is so important. There are many crazy things going on in the world that stem from trauma and greed, and we have to protect ourselves from those who don’t care about our best interests. We can come across people who want to hurt us to make themselves feel better or use us to gain more power in some way or tear us down because they think we are in competition with them. I believe there is space for everyone to live happily and liberated, we just have to be ourselves authentically, learn what is needed in the world, and strive to feel good and do good in this space and time. It doesn’t feel good to live with a mindset of worry or fear, so we have to know what we want, know that we deserve to be happy and free, and do what we can while we’re able to make our lives and spaces better.
No matter where we’ve been or what we’ve been through, we can focus on where we are now and how we want to move forward with the information we have at the moment. We’re all on this Earth in this space and time and we deserve to be loved and free.
Contact Info:
- Email: tearraoso@gmail.com
- Instagram: TearraOso
- Facebook: TearraOso
- Twitter: TearraOso
- Youtube: TearraOso
- SoundCloud: TearraOso
Image Credits
(Drum photo) Michael Haug
(2 drummers photo) Andres Guzman
(Dakota with pink top photo) Corina Bernstein
(white shirt photo) Lauren Krysti
(brown dress with white flowers photo) Michael Haug
(griot del rio photo) Rick Rock
(guitar photo) Rick Rock
(pink filter headshot) Michael Haug
