Wrong Thing versus Right Thing
Bri points out that the drug dealers in the neighborhood are not struggling for money, but everyone else is.
There is a huge irony in the way in which the people who do the wrong thing are successful whereas the people doing the wrong thing are financially rewarded. Aunt Pooh is a drug dealer but she is the one able to buy food for the Jacksons and to help them out financially. Similarly the drug dealers and gang leaders have an obviously financially successful lifestyle; this is why so many of the kids in the neighborhood want to be drug dealers and gang leaders when they grow up.
Bri's Lyrics
The lyrics in Bri's rap are intended to be ironic: she raps that she is more concerned about her figure than about the weapons she is carrying. This is intended to shake up the stereotypical picture of a hoodlum, but the irony is totally missed by the media and the public who see her as an angry black girl boasting about being a menace to society.
Bri's Character
Bri is not a hoodlum, although she is thought to be one because of her family's activities. However, she does not find success until she pretends to be exactly what people believe her to be - a hoodlum and a menace to society. In order to become the person she has the potential to be, she has to keep up the pretense of being the person she is not.
Churchgoers
Bri points out that the people who go to church and announce that they love Jesus don't feel the need to actually take his teachings to heart; in fact, they seem to do the opposite. They judge Bri and her family a great deal but do not ever seem to feel the need to reach out to try to help them. They like to talk about how important Jesus is to them but they don't want to act as he would want them to.
Trey's Prospects
Trey has done everything that he is supposed to do, and has never been in trouble. He has worked hard at school and is academically gifted; however, he cannot get a job other than working in a pizza shop. No matter how much he has stayed on the straight and narrow and done the right thing, he is punished for it because only those who do the wrong thing are rewarded.
