On the Come Up

by

Angie Thomas

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on On the Come Up makes teaching easy.

Dee-Nice Character Analysis

A 22-year-old rapper who got his start doing battles in the Ring. However, not long before the start of the novel, Dee-Nice hired Supreme as his manager and got a million-dollar record deal, which allowed him to "retire" from the Ring. Bri idolizes him, which is why Supreme uses Dee-Nice as bait when he tries to convince Bri to hire him as her manager. Though Dee-Nice appears to be a nice person, Bri also recognizes that he's entirely bought into Supreme's idea of what success is and how to get it, especially when he writes a song for Bri to perform in a studio as a test for a record label representative. The song he writes for Bri is even more violent than Bri's song, “On the Come Up,” doesn't have a deeper meaning to justify the surface violence, and is extremely sexist.
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Dee-Nice Character Timeline in On the Come Up

The timeline below shows where the character Dee-Nice appears in On the Come Up. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Identity and Individuality Theme Icon
Racism and Prejudice Theme Icon
Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood Theme Icon
Control, Image, and Fame Theme Icon
...They wave Bri and Pooh inside and Pooh finds them a spot. A rapper named Dee-Nice enters the building and Pooh whispers that Dee-Nice just got a million-dollar record deal. (full context)
Chapter 12
Identity and Individuality Theme Icon
Control, Image, and Fame Theme Icon
...that Aunt Pooh is Bri's manager, he laughs and says that Pooh probably heard about Dee-Nice's deal and thinks that keeping Bri at the Ring will get her one too. This... (full context)
Chapter 18
Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood Theme Icon
Control, Image, and Fame Theme Icon
Dee-Nice enters and joins Bri and Supreme. Bri is star struck, especially when Dee-Nice compliments her.... (full context)
Chapter 30
Control, Image, and Fame Theme Icon
...spits that her dad wasn't a hoodlum, and Supreme tries to smooth over the situation. Dee-Nice arrives and asks Bri if she's ready to do a song. Bri thinks they're going... (full context)