Identity and Individuality Theme Analysis

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: her deceased father was the rising rap star Lawless, a local hero. Because of this, Bri is often referred to as "Li'l Law" and given opportunities to perform her own raps based on her father’s reputation. However, as these identities converge on Bri and begin to stifle her and control her life, Bri realizes that what she wants most is the opportunity to shape her own identity and come of age on her own terms, without being bound by other people's ideas about who she is. Through the example of Bri, Thomas suggests that crafting one's own unique identity is a crucial part of coming of age.

Bri finds herself in an odd situation when it comes to her dad, Lawless, as she was only four when he died and therefore doesn't remember him. Nonetheless, Bri idolizes her dad's memory and, at least at first, enjoys it when people around town treat her like "royalty" because of her association with him. From the beginning, however, Bri finds her association with Lawless somewhat difficult to handle, as it reminds her that she's the only person who doesn't remember him. When she first goes to the Ring, the local boxing place that holds rap battles, Bri even begins to get annoyed by the nickname Li'l Law and the suggestion that she's "carrying the torch" for her dad—as far as she's concerned, she's there to carry her own torch and make a name for herself, not just to keep Lawless's memory alive. This experience impresses upon Bri that for her, coming of age will mean reconciling the positive and negative sides of her connection with her father.

Thomas explores Bri's relationship with Lawless through the symbol of his chain. The chain is the most valuable thing that Bri's family owns, and Bri sees it as a reminder that she can succeed in the rap world just like her dad was poised to do—plus, it's an insurance policy if she doesn't succeed, as selling it would solve some of her family's financial troubles. Bri begins wearing the chain and out and about after she receives it for Christmas, but not long after, the Crown—a member of the gang that killed Lawless—holds her at gunpoint and steals it. The chain forces Bri to confront the reality that identifying so closely with her dad brings its own set of dangers, even if it can also bring comfort.

Though Bri's primary issue of identity is the one that stems from her relationship to her father, other forces beyond her control also influence how people see her. At school, she discovers that her older brother Trey's immense academic success means that, to many of her teachers, Bri is a bit of a disappointment: she's not as involved, popular, or academically talented as Trey was. Even worse, Bri is also caught up in the racial tensions and stereotypes prevalent in her community. At one point, Bri is assaulted by school security guards for refusing to allow them to search her backpack. The real reason that she wouldn't let the guards look in her backpack is that she was selling candy against school rules, but because of Bri's race and reputation as a troublemaker, rumors spread that Bri was actually selling drugs. The racial tensions at Midtown School of the Arts cause the rumor to quickly gain traction: many of Bri's classmates (who are mostly white) believe the rumor, as do white parents, who are concerned that the black kids being bused in for grant money might bring drugs and violence into the white neighborhood. Bri begins to realize that in all of these cases, other people dehumanize her based on their assumptions about her identity. That is, they don't view her as a real human at all; instead, they define her in simplistic terms based on her family, race, and community. Put another way, people flatten Bri into just being Lawless's daughter, Trey's sister, or a black Garden Heights resident—all of which are parts of her identity, but none of which defines Bri as a unique individual.

Though Bri initially tries to keep what happened to her dad's chain a secret, when the truth comes out, Bri begins to see the importance of crafting an identity for herself that is truly her own and isn't based on who other people say she is. To this end, she uses an appearance at the Ring to fire Supreme, her almost-manager, through an unscheduled freestyle. In her freestyle, Bri insists that people recognize her as Bri, not Li'l Law, and declares that she won't put up with others' assumptions about her. While Bri's age means that she still has a ways to go in terms of coming of age and developing her own identity, this is a formative moment for her. It suggests that for her, the most important element of the coming-of-age battle is recognizing—and rebelling against—the ways that her relationships and others' perceptions shape her identity. With this, the novel suggests to readers that there's nothing wrong with drawing on relationships and communities for support, it's freeing and often necessary to take personal responsibility for declaring one's own identity.