Supreme Character Analysis

I mean...I don't think she is.

For one, eight years is a hell of a long time to be clean. Two, Jay wouldn't go back to all of that. She knows how much it messed us up. She wouldn't put me and Trey through that again.

But.

She put us through it in the first place.

I almost roll my eyes. How would these people feel if they knew Milez was here to see how messed up we are to remind him how good he's got it? He's gonna go to his nice house in the suburbs and forget this in a week, tops, while we're still struggling.

My situation shouldn't be his after-school special.

"You know who the biggest consumers of hip-hop are?"

"White kids in the suburbs," Miles answers dryly, as if he's heard this before.

"Exactly! White kids in the suburbs," Supreme says. "You know what white kids in the suburbs love? Listening to shit that scares their parents. You scare the hell outta their folks, they'll flock to you like birds. The videos from tonight? Gonna scare the hell outta them. Watch your numbers shoot up."

It actually makes sense that white kids in the suburbs will love the videos. But Long and Tate called me a "hoodlum," and I can't seem to shake that word.

But it's like how when she does stuff I don't like and says it's "for my own good." This is for hers. I'm willing to do anything to keep that sadness in her eyes from becoming permanent.

It's like having a bucket of ice water thrown into my face.

Ratchet hood rat.

Thousands of people just heard me act like that. Millions more may see the video. They won't care that my life is a mess and I had every right to be mad. They'll just see an angry black girl from the ghetto, acting like they expected me to act.

Supreme laughs to himself. "You played the role," he says. "Goddamn, you played the role."

Problem is, I wasn't playing. That's what I've become.

"I'm done being who my dad wants me to be," Miles says. "It's not worth it."

Does he mean what I think he means? "You're giving up your rap career?"

Miles slowly nods. "Yeah. I am. Besides, is it really mine if I'm not being myself?

I mean...I don't think she is.

For one, eight years is a hell of a long time to be clean. Two, Jay wouldn't go back to all of that. She knows how much it messed us up. She wouldn't put me and Trey through that again.

But.

She put us through it in the first place.

I almost roll my eyes. How would these people feel if they knew Milez was here to see how messed up we are to remind him how good he's got it? He's gonna go to his nice house in the suburbs and forget this in a week, tops, while we're still struggling.

My situation shouldn't be his after-school special.

"You know who the biggest consumers of hip-hop are?"

"White kids in the suburbs," Miles answers dryly, as if he's heard this before.

"Exactly! White kids in the suburbs," Supreme says. "You know what white kids in the suburbs love? Listening to shit that scares their parents. You scare the hell outta their folks, they'll flock to you like birds. The videos from tonight? Gonna scare the hell outta them. Watch your numbers shoot up."

It actually makes sense that white kids in the suburbs will love the videos. But Long and Tate called me a "hoodlum," and I can't seem to shake that word.

But it's like how when she does stuff I don't like and says it's "for my own good." This is for hers. I'm willing to do anything to keep that sadness in her eyes from becoming permanent.

It's like having a bucket of ice water thrown into my face.

Ratchet hood rat.

Thousands of people just heard me act like that. Millions more may see the video. They won't care that my life is a mess and I had every right to be mad. They'll just see an angry black girl from the ghetto, acting like they expected me to act.

Supreme laughs to himself. "You played the role," he says. "Goddamn, you played the role."

Problem is, I wasn't playing. That's what I've become.

"I'm done being who my dad wants me to be," Miles says. "It's not worth it."

Does he mean what I think he means? "You're giving up your rap career?"

Miles slowly nods. "Yeah. I am. Besides, is it really mine if I'm not being myself?