- Angie, welcome back to Waterstones. - Thank you!
It has been a year since I
saw you last and The Hate U Give has been a huge success, it has become a
movie; your life has probably changed quite a lot. But we're here to talk about
your new novel, On The Come Up. Could you start off by telling us a little bit about that book?
Yeah, On The Come Up, it's not a sequel or a spin-off to The Hate U Give
but it is set in the same neighborhood. And it follows a sixteen-year-old girl
named Brianna who wants to be a rapper. And her life is turned upside down when
1) Her mom unexpectedly loses her job and 2) a song she makes goes viral for
all the wrong reasons and she finds herself in the center of a controversy
too big for her to control and being portrayed as someone she's not. But as
her family situation gets worse she's desperate to make it even if it means
becoming the very thing everyone's made her out to be.
With this sort of theme of
rap... I know a little bit about you personally and I know that this might be
a slightly more personal story than you're letting on because I've seen you rapping!
Can you tell us a little bit about your relationship I suppose with rap as a form?
Yeah when I was 16 I wanted to be a rapper. I wasn't very good at it but
I wanted to be a rapper. And for me it was a way of expressing myself but it
was also a way of hopefully helping my family out of financial hardship.
We struggled a bit when I was a teenager, you know, my mom left a job because of
some things happening with our family and it really changed everything. So it
was my way of trying to save us, I guess. That's what I thought. So I definitely
took that from my own life and put that into Bri's story. But you know I always
have to point out cuz you know in the book Bri's mom was on drugs. My mom was
never on drugs. I always have to say that because mom is in the room. And she wants
me to point that out. She's right there, off-camera. We have to make this very clear.
It's like, blink twice if you're in danger Angie!
no it's okay
I'm just checking. Mum's fine.
And you mentioned that the book is is set I suppose in the same
world, the same universe as The Hate U Give - are you hoping that the same kind of
readers are going to respond to it or are you hoping to find a sort of a
new audience with this book?
You know I'm kind of hoping hoping for a new one.
Not to say that I don't think readers of The Hate U Give will enjoy
On The Come Up, I hope you do too, but you know I really want us to talk to those
kids who don't feel as if books speak to them. And what does speak to them? Hip Hop.
So I really wanted to bridge the gap between those two you know. Hip hop, when
it's done well, is a form of storytelling. And that's why so many kids love it and
because it's telling their stories and it's something they can identify with
and something that speaks to them. And so I want my book to do the same thing. So I
definitely want to talk to those kids. You know I've met kids here in the UK
who were like telling me their favorite rappers and all of that you know.
And they're like I never thought anyone would write a book about rap. And I'm like, yeah
I got you! You know? So I really want to talk to them and for all those people
who enjoy hip hop or even the people who don't understand hip
hop I'd really like to speak to them too and hopefully give them a better
understanding of this art form.
One way to give us a really good understanding
of the art form would be to demonstrate it. Is there any way I can convince you
to give us a little taste of some of the rap contained within the book?
I feel like I've been like on a rap tour because I've been doing it like at stops
around the UK. So I don't mind but yeah it's funny cuz I'm like so at this point
I'm rapping on tour so this is technically a rap tour.
It means you made it.
16 year old Angie did dream of rapping on stage but I don't think she knew
that they would be a book event. But let's see. Well, in the beginning of the book
Bri does battle raps and she has a battle against this young man named
Miles. And so the first time, the first round of the battle
I will spoil the book a little bit: it doesn't go too well for Bri. But the
second round she kind of gets herself together and I'm trying to remember how
it goes... this is bad! It's not fair of me to put you on the spot
No, it's okay I should know! So it goes like this. It's done to the rhythm of this rap done by a
rapper who has now deceased. His name was Big Pun, look him up, he was one of the
greatest. But it goes like this:
*TURN THE SOUND ON!*
*LITERALLY CAN'T SUBTITLE THIS*
If there was a mic you could drop...
I mean I have one but I don't wanna drop it.
Angie it is so good to hear more about this new book
and thank you for playing along and giving us a little taste of some of the
rap that's contained within it.
Thank you for being patient... it took me a minute!