Angie Thomas' second YA novel, On the Come Up, has been adapted into a film, and we've got our very first look.
The debut peek at the Paramount+ movie was revealed at the BET Awards on Sunday with a very short teaser trailer, but it's enough to have us psyched.
It's the second film adaptation for Thomas, whose debut YA novel, The Hate U Give, was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and examined systemic racism and police violence through the experiences of teen protagonist Starr Carter. The book was banned at a school in Texas for some bullshit reason, and was made into a film in 2018 starring Amandla Stenberg.
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Set in the same fictional neighbourhood as The Hate U Give, Garden Heights, Thomas' second novel, On the Come Up focuses on 16-year-old Bri, a talented aspiring rapper with big dreams and her first battle to win. She's under pressure — Bri's father was a bit of a legend in the underground hip hop scene. But while dealing with racism at school and economic strife at home, Bri channels her emotions into a huge track that goes viral, but generates negative, racist and classist media portrayals. So, Bri must challenge all that harmful societal crap and go for it by raising her voice, which is a much more complicated process as a young Black person.
In the film version directed by Succession star Sanaa Lathan and adapted by This Is Us writer-director Kay Oyegun, On the Come Up will see newcomer Jamila C. Gray starring as Bri (she was coached by Grammy-nominated rapper Rapsody(opens in a new tab)), alongside Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Method Man, Mike Epps, and more.
Thomas told The New York Times(opens in a new tab) she both wanted to give hip hop its due in YA fiction with her second novel, but also highlight how rappers have inspired her while dealing with book bans and censorship. (opens in a new tab)
"When I was dealing with my own censorship, I thought of the rappers who had meant so much to me, like Tupac, Biggie, Lauryn Hill and Nas, and how they went through it. I was raised knowing that when hip hop spoke up, it was always challenged. So often when rappers speak, they’re criticized for how they do it, as opposed to what they actually say," she told the publisher.
On the Come Up lands on Paramount+ "soon."
