However, her father's old manager tells her that her persona as an angry young black girl from the projects who spends her days dealing drugs and gangbanging can make her serious money. She is quickly embroiled in controversy, but with very little options or room for maneuver. She is portrayed by the media as less MC, more menace to society. It soon goes viral which cements her reputation as a hoodlum. All the clips on my hips change my figure.' Bri intended the rap as a challenge to the hoodlum stereotype, but it is seen by the public as a boast. She raps, 'Strapped like backpacks I pull triggers. Bri pours her frustration out into her first song, which angry and combative. Most days, Bri goes home to an empty refrigerator, because there is no money for food. Her mother loses her job, and there is no money. Labelled a troublemaker at school, things at home are getting worse too. This is the battle that Bri fights every single day. Her grandmother does not think that Jay is a fit mother for Bri and her brother, Trey, and frequently voices this belief. How do you get your come up when almost everyone around you thinks you're a hoodlum? This view of Bri is partly due to her family her Aunty Pooh, whom she adores, is a drug dealer, and her mother, Jay, a crack addict who has been clean for eight years, but this doesn't stop Bri worrying constantly about the possibility of a relapse. She wants to be a legend, just like her father, but right now she'd settle for winning her first rap battle. The problem is, she hasn't really rapped in public yet.

Bri knows that she has some very big shoes to fill if she wants to become a rapper like her dad - but she does want that, she wants it very badly. He was an underground hip hop legend who was on the point of making it big just before his untimely death. He passed away eight years previously, suddenly, murdered in a shooting by a rival gang. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.īrianna ' Bri' Jackson is sixteen years old, and she misses her father. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas