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Racism as a Tool of Disempowerment
Throughout On the Come Up, Black characters are trapped within and oppressed by racist systems that sap them of their personal autonomy and ability to thrive, and they are also misunderstood, silenced, and on one occasion murdered, by white authority figures. For example, Bri is labeled as “aggressive” by her teachers and principal, a label that isn’t applied to her white peers, despite the fact that they behave the same way. She is assaulted by the security guards in her school, who are notorious for disproportionately focusing on Black and Latinx students. In pursuit of her dream of rap stardom, Bri encounters an industry run by white people that caters to the preferences of a white audience. She finds that only way to succeed is to conform at the cost of her freedom of expression.
Her mother Jay comes up against systemic inequities as well, and her struggle to find work and fully recover from her addiction are impeded by biased employers and the court system. Her past sometimes seems inescapable, but white people in her situation are often treated with more grace and leniency. At key moments in the novel, Bri alludes to the death of the unarmed Black boy at the hands of the police, a reference to an event in Angie Thomas’s previous novel The Hate U Give.
The Inescapability of Stereotypes
Racial stereotypes haunt Bri throughout the novel. Outside of her family, friends, and community, nearly everyone that Bri encounters sees her through the distorted lens of racial stereotyping. From the security guards to the media, from store clerks to record executives, the world tells Bri that she is thuggish, a hoodlum, a gangster, and a threat. Bri struggles throughout the novel to push back against these labels, and that pushback itself is seen as further proof of her aggression. For example, Bri writes “On the Come Up” in an attempt to criticize the perception that she is a threat, but many listeners interpret the song in the opposite way, believing it to be a call to violence and a confirmation of Bri’s dangerousness. Throughout the novel, Bri becomes angrier and more frustrated at how persistently she is misunderstood and mistreated. She acts out of that anger in increasingly explosive ways, suggesting that stereotypes are, in a sense, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Incompatibility of Fame and Authenticity
On the Come Up makes a strong argument against the pursuit of fame, suggesting that it is impossible to be both famous and authentic to one’s true self. Miles, Lawless, and Bri all lose themselves as they become celebrities. All three are guided by Supreme’s philosophy that in the rigged system of the white-run hip-hop industry, the only way to succeed is to play the role of the dangerous rap star. As “Milez,” Miles plays the role of a girl-obsessed, overconfident rapper and achieves commercial success. But, disillusioned by the shallowness of his fake life, he decides to cast off the persona that his father is forcing him to wear. He quits rapping, admits that he hates hip-hop, and comes out as gay.
Supreme pushed Lawless, who was uninterested in gang life, to present a thuggish front. Lawless succeeded in becoming a rap legend, but his gang-affiliated persona cost him his life. And as Bri fights against the perception that she is violent, Supreme encourages her to play up her aggression, to perform the role of the “ratchet hood rat,” and to give people what they expect from a Black girl from a poor neighborhood. Though Bri tries to resist him and his ideology, she consistently succumbs to his pressure, following his advice at every turn and increasingly becoming unrecognizable to herself.
Freedom in Speaking Your Own Truth
In On The Come Up, true self-expression is the only path to freedom, a theme which is most evident in Bri’s relationship with music. Bri is at her best, and feels most herself, when she is “in the flow,” freestyling, rapping, and composing lyrics. Throughout the novel, Bri often interjects rhymes into the narrative; these rhymes are unfiltered, authentic responses to Bri’s reality. In contrast, Bri feels stifled and frustrated by the false “role” that Supreme tries to impose on her music. When he coerces her to record the lyrics Dee Nice wrote for her, it is as if he has replaced her voice with someone else’s. Only when Bri rejects the false role can she free herself from Supreme’s trap, once more rapping her own words from the heart.
The stories of Miles and Jay also speak to the theme of freedom in truth-telling. Like Bri, Miles feels trapped by the false persona of “Milez” that his father has cultivated for him. Supreme makes him hide his homosexuality and play the role of a “swagerific” rapper, even though he hates hip-hop. Miles finds freedom by giving up his rap career and coming out as gay so he can be with Sonny. Likewise, Jay finds freedom in speaking her truth to Dr. Cook. Instead of accepting the systemic injustices hindering her and her daughter, she boldly calls them out, leading Dr. Cook to admit that the school has failed Bri and, by extension, Jay. Dr. Cook sees determination and strength in the way that Jay unapologetically announces her sobriety rather than trying to hide her past addiction, and he offers her a job that will help her provide financial stability for her family.
