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Lawless's Chain
Bri initially sees Milez's song "Swagerific" as an annoying encapsulation of the privilege afforded to some artists in the music industry: because of Milez's manager (and father), Supreme, he's able to come out with a song that's silly, repetitive, and not creative—but a hit nonetheless. Later, Bri realizes that "Swagerific" is indicative more of the fact that oftentimes, it's necessary for an aspiring star to hide their true identity and produce songs like "Swagerific" in order to stay successful. She discovers that Milez actually prefers to go by Miles and isn't all that interested in being a star—it's something his dad wants him to do. Miles is also gay, showing Bri that all his lyrics about how girls want him are contrived and designed only to promote his image as a ladies' man. Taken together, Bri's understanding of "Swagerific" and all that it represents shows how she comes to view the established music industry as one that's built on playing a role, not on speaking one's truth.
"Swagerific" Quotes in On the Come Up
The On the Come Up quotes below all refer to the symbol of "Swagerific". For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 32
Quotes
"I'm done being who my dad wants me to be," Miles says. "It's not worth it."
Does he mean what I think he means? "You're giving up your rap career?"
Miles slowly nods. "Yeah. I am. Besides, is it really mine if I'm not being myself?
Related Characters:
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Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire On the Come Up LitChart as a printable PDF.
"Swagerific" Symbol Timeline in On the Come Up
The timeline below shows where the symbol "Swagerific" appears in On the Come Up. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...manager, and Pooh recognizes him as the kid responsible for the popular yet bad song "Swagerific." Hype then calls her up, and Bri knows this means she has to win. Terrified,...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...Milez gets close to Bri and starts rapping. His lines are better than what's in "Swagerific," but he raps about being a gangster and Bri knows he and Supreme live in...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...into the background. She doesn't attract attention for anything good. She notices boys dancing to "Swagerific" as Sonny says he's doing SAT prep at lunch, while Malik needs to edit his...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...song with a local producer tomorrow. Bri is ecstatic. Scrap suggests Bri do something like "Swagerific"—even though it has no substance, it's catchy.
(full context)
Chapter 12
...volunteer as Bri notices that there's a black Santa and a boy wearing a "Mr. Swagerific" sweatshirt—Supreme and Milez—giving candy to kids. Jay tells Bri to ignore them and heads to...
(full context)
Chapter 32
...shocked. Malik and Bri snigger and imitate Sonny's shock at having been talking to the "Swagerific" guy.
(full context)
