It’s been a year since a young woman by the name of Johniqua Charles went viral for her hilarious “You About to Lose Yo Job” video and apparently she has more to celebrate than just a year of her video circulating.
On Thursday, June 3, she told her Instagram followers in a video that Saturday, June 5, will mark a year of her being sober. “Wow, it’s really been a year since ‘you about to lose your job’ went viral and to me, it’s hitting different because on the fifth I will actually be celebrating a year clean of cocaine and clear off of those streets thank God. And it might not mean much to nobody else but it means everything to me because for one this is the longest that I’ve ever been clean and off of those streets for this long. And it’s just a blessing.”
She continued, “Everything that came for me because of ‘you about to lose your job’ and everything that is still to come I am just so thankful for. And I am thankful for everybody that wasn’t in my corner and everybody that supported me through all of this and I am just grateful and I just want to thank everybody. Have a blessed day.”
In the caption she said, “You about to lose yo job” changed my life only God knows where I would have been if not dead if it wasn’t for that song going viral!!!!! Lord I just wanna thank u!!!”
Fans cheered her on in the comments. One person wrote, “Yes Queen adjust your crown 👑,” and another said, “we were all drawn to your bright spirit in that video and i’m so glad the year since has taken a turn for the better ❤️🙌.” Someone else wrote, “Good job girl, we’ll all rooting for you! You’re such a vibe 💃🏻.”
SInce going viral, Charles initially gained a lot of followers on social media, and a GoFundMe page started by her sister raised over $50,000. When unrest erupted over racial injustices, many used the “Lose Yo’ Job” chant to fuel their protests.
“I think the first time that I’d ever seen my song played at a big protest, of course I dropped a tear because this was amazing,” Charles said. While the video changed her life for the better, Charles said she also hit a rough patch after going viral.
She told Atlanta Black Star that her sister had served as her manager, but their relationship has since gone sour. The falling out led to Charles’s sister locking her out of her original Instagram account, which had over 55,000 followers, leading to a loss of new opportunities, she said.
Last year in February, Charles was arrested at Diamond Gentleman’s Club in Dillon, South Carolina, after a misunderstanding with the security guards at the club. Charles told Atlanta Black Star in November that after she left the building, she realized she left her purse inside and tried to go back in to retrieve it.
Charles claimed the security guards stopped her and “wasn’t listening” to her. Charles said she tried to ask why she was being detained, but instead the guard ignored her and that’s when the singing started.
“In light of every situation, I’m going to make a joke out of it,” she said.
The video got so popular that people started to remix it into songs and add their own videos to it for comedic relief. She gained thousands of followers, was able to raise $50,000 on GoFundMe, and even had the remixes used in the protests against police brutality. However, Charles had to rebuild her following when her sister locked her out of her account after a disagreement. She now has over 67,000 followers when before she only had 55,000.
On the bright side, since going viral, Charles has welcomed a new bundle of joy making her son an older brother to a baby girl named Dexire Antoniya Williams.
