Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On the Come Up, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Individuality
Racism and Prejudice
Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood
Control, Image, and Fame
Summary
Analysis
By the time Sister Daniels gets home, Bri and Curtis are just watching TV. Curtis drives Bri home and Bri knows that this information will get back to Grandma. Curtis holds Bri's hand as he drives and assures her it'll be okay when they get to Bri's house. They kiss and Bri goes inside. Bri shakily tells Jay that Aunt Pooh was arrested in a drug bust. Jay immediately calls the police station, Trey, and Lena, who's sobbing. Scrap's phone goes to voicemail. Jay goes to her room and cries all night, and Bri fears that with Pooh gone, the Crowns will come after her.
In this situation, Bri can't protect Jay from the horrific realities of the outside world—Jay has to face them, just like Bri does. While it's perfectly understandable that Jay needs to care for herself and grieve for her sister, it's also important to note that in doing this, she leaves Bri alone to process the trauma of the drug bust—and in this way, abandons Bri again.
Themes
Jay stays in her room for days. She's still there when Bri meets Supreme to drive downtown for her interview with DJ Hype. Bri barely listens to Supreme and thinks that though this is a big deal, it won't save Pooh. Supreme calls Bri "Li'l Law" and asks if she's okay, but Bri asks him to use her name. He chuckles that Bri wants to be independent, but Bri thinks she has to be independent.
Now that Bri has experienced more awful things in real life, Supreme seems even more surreal to her—and even less interesting. In other words, as Bri becomes more independent and more aware of the space she inhabits, she becomes increasingly aware of how contrived Supreme's show is.
Themes
Bri and Supreme enter the skyscraper. The walls are lined with framed photos of DJs with hip-hop stars, and she can hear Hype recording in his studio. When he cuts to commercial, Bri and Supreme enter. Hype greets Bri, congratulates her on her Ring performance, and asks her to not curse when they're live. Supreme quietly tells Bri to beware: Hype will try to bait her, but she needs to just say what she feels. Bri thinks that Supreme must have no idea what she's feeling.
It's true, Supreme probably doesn't know exactly what Bri's feeling—there's no indication he knows about the drug bust and Pooh's arrest. However, he also is certainly aware that Bri is on edge, which makes it way more likely that Bri is going to lose her temper. For Supreme, this means she's going to do something stupid and make him money.
Themes
Hype introduces Bri as Lawless's daughter. He asks Bri what she has to say about the controversy surrounding her song and asks if her violent lyrics incited the riot at Midtown. Bri asks about all the other rap songs that Hype plays and asks if they incite violence. She says that her song is a convenient scapegoat for people who don't want to question what's actually going on. Hype suggests that Bri's lyrics are "a bit much" and mentions her lines about killing cops. Bri says that wasn't her intent. She breaks down her lyrics and says that it's about the community having her back.
Knowing that DJ Hype's entire goal is to push Bri's buttons makes it easier to see that he's shirking any possible responsibility for the perception of rap music and putting it all on Bri, since hers is the big bad song of the moment. Bri does deserve credit for how she's conducted herself thus far, and it's important to note that getting the true meaning behind her song out there is important—it will give Bri more credibility.
Themes
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Hype admits that it caught him off guard to hear a sixteen-year-old girl rapping about guns. When Bri asks, however, he says that hearing Lawless rap about guns at age sixteen didn't bother him. He says it's different, but Bri notes that she knows girls who had to use guns at that age to survive. Hype then accuses Bri of using a ghostwriter, since she can't possibly have guns. Bri takes off her headphones and says she's done. She yells at Hype when he calls her Li'l Law, and Supreme has to drag her out. Hype makes "jokes" about Bri PMSing. Supreme laughs and says that Bri did exactly what he told her to and played the role of a "ratchet hood rat." Bri immediately regrets her behavior: millions heard her, and they'll think she's an angry black girl for no reason.
It's likely that DJ Hype knew exactly what he was doing and figured that bringing gendered issues into this was going to make Bri angry—and therefore, more interesting for viewers and the butt of all of his jokes. Supreme's glee at Bri's behavior reminds the reader of how he feels is the best way to make money: making scenes and getting in trouble, and that all publicity is good. Bri, however, now understands that she doesn't want to be the "ratchet hood rat" and that she has to stop behaving like this if she wants to repair her reputation.
Themes
