Brianna, a sixteen year old girl with a dream of becoming the next big rapper; constantly being criticized for being a girl in a ‘boys’ genre; being compared to her father Lawless for copying his profession. With her Aunt Pooh as her manager, she wasn’t getting noticed until she performed at a local roast battle. She was given an offer from a producer to make her first official song. Bri being exposed to hate from the internet leaves her vulnerable to act unprofessional on the internet. Bri finds her true potential when she is surrounded by the people she loves and she shows that when she freestyles about her life and all of the accusations people have about her. She is lost and can’t find her true identity. Bri’s identity is shown to be influenced by the people around her.
Thomas writing with a stream of consciousness for Bri allows us to see how she comes up with her lyrics and lets us know who influenced her lyrics. When Bri is writing On the Come Up we can see that she is influenced by Aunt Pooh and Scrap. “Scrap shows Doc and his boys his two pieces. One’s got a silencer, and the guys damn near drool over it. Aunt Pooh says Scrap’s got more heat than a furnace.” (Thomas, On the Come up, 109) Bri uses this as inspiration for her song.
Run up on me and get done up.
Whole squad got more heat than a furnace.
Silencer is a must, they ain’t heard us. (Thomas, On the Come up, 110)
Bri’s metaphor in On the Come Up; “Whole squad got more heat than a furnace” Refires to Scrap’s ‘gang’ shooting at so many people that the barrel of their gun is hotter than a furnace. This shows that Bri was influenced by Aunt Pooh and Scrap when writing On the Come Up.
Not long after Bri’s hit song On the Come Up was released, she got her first public hate comment in the form of an article and petition that wants to get Bri’s song off of ‘Dat Cloud’. Bri being new to fame leaves her vulnerable to hate and not knowing how to deal with it. She results in going live on Instagram; where 300 of her fans greet her. She tells them about the petition; she tells them not to sign it. Someone in the chat says “F*ck censorship” (Thomas, On the Come up, 267) many more people agree and repeat it in the chat and this influences her to say it herself.
“That’s right, f*ck censorship,” I say, to three hundred viewers. “They don’t get it gygfu because it ain’t for them to get. Besides, if I am strapped like backpacks, maybe it’s dadw cause I gotta be, b*tch. Ain’t my fault if it makes you uncomfortable. I’m adaduncomfortable every goddamn day of my life” (Thomas, On the Come up, 267)
She says she doesn’t care if other people are “uncomfortable” about her having a gun but then she repeats it. The word “uncomfortable” could have triggered something in her brain; snapped her out of the role she is playing and made her speak the truth of being uncomfortable everyday. This influences Bri to play into the stereotype of being ‘strapped’. This can be seen all over social media; people being peer pressured to play a role over the internet. It is such an important topic that it has been talked about by some of the largest faces in the world. CEO and Chief Engineer at SpaceX, CEO of Tesla and currently the richest man in the world; Elon Musk believes that there should be regulations for being on social media; for example: having to prove your age, some way to show maturity or even taking away the ability to comment and message people if they are shown to be offensive or rude. “I think there should be regulations on social media to a degree that it negatively affects the public” (Elon Musk) Bri is shown to be influenced by the people in her chat and also her being peer pressured into playing into the stereotype of people living in a ‘ghetto’ area.
Bri goes to the ‘Ring’ to perform her new song that Dee Nice wrote for her; if she rapped it; ‘played the role’ she was almost guaranteed a contract from James. She chooses to go against Supreme and James because she is with her family. Bri’s family influences her to speak her truth, speak her life.
Refuse to be their laugh, I refuse to be a clone
You see, I’m somebody’s daughter, I’m somebody’s sister
I'm somebody's hope. And I’m somebody’s mirror
I’m a genius, I’m a star, call me sellout, and you'll never call me thug. (Thomas, On the Come up, 440)
In this verse she says she refuses to be a “clone”; the word “clone” is referring to being a replica of her father because people only see her as Law’s daughter. “You can be smarter than that. You just gotta remember to play the role, not become it. We can do everything Law and I didn't get a chance to do.” (Thomas, On the Come up, 382) Throughout the book she has been persistent on convincing people that she wants to create her own career and not be Law’s shadow but people like Supreme see her as a do over of her dad. In the verse Bri lists things that she believes because she is confident of herself since her friends and family are watching her. “I’m a genius, I’m a star, call me sellout, and you'll never call me thug.” She lists what she is, then what conspiracies people have of her and makes sure that people know that she doesn’t claim a set. She breaks the stereotype that all people living in the ‘ghetto’ are a ‘thugs’.
In conclusion you can see that Bri was shown to be influenced by the people around her; she was influenced writing her lyrics off of who she surrounded herself with, her mood was influenced from people online and in person and she was influenced by people around her when in high pressure situations.
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