Identity and Individuality
On the Come Up follows a sixteen-year-old aspiring rapper named Bri. As a strong-willed African American girl at a predominately white arts magnet school, Bri often feels like her identity isn't entirely in her control—she often finds herself in the school office for being "aggressive" or "confrontational," earning her a reputation on campus and among teachers as a troublemaker. Outside of school, Bri's identity is also determined for her, but in a different way…
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Racism and Prejudice
The subplot of On the Come Up that deals with the racist security guards at Bri's school offers the reader a window into what it's like for Bri, a young black woman, to move through a prejudiced world. Bri and her black and Latinx classmates are targeted by the guards, Long and Tate, with shocking regularity and for no reason other than the color of their skin—and though Bri is only sixteen, plenty…
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Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood
Sixteen-year-old Bri's immediately family has been struggling financially for years. After Bri’s dad, Lawless, died before getting a record deal about twelve years before the novel's story begins, it became even more difficult for Bri's mom, Jay, to support her two small children. In the present, things haven't changed much: Jay loses her low-paying job as a church secretary right before Christmas; Bri's 22-year-old brother, Trey, does what he can to…
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Control, Image, and Fame
Following Bri's assault by school security guards and the release of her first song, Bri soon finds the effects of her fame spiraling out of control. Though she does what she can to control her image and how others use it, Bri quickly discovers that there are others out there trying to use her image in ways that directly contract what Bri herself wants. Through this tension, On the Come Up argues that…
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