Struggle and poverty
These characters are forced to cooperate in order to survive. Their lives are filled with real burdens and obstacles, and their survival is pain-staking, because the problems are stacked so high against them. They are disenfranchised from helping themselves, because the mother succumbed to drug addiction and is constantly on her way to relapse, and the only other grown up is an Aunty who is literally a drug dealer. The struggle for this cast is real.
Disenfranchisement and entertainment
Although Bri finds a way to enfranchise her struggle, the demands of media and fame begin to shape her legacy into something she resents. As she tries to explain the brokenness of her culture, she is constantly being misunderstood, as if she supports the street life, as if she wants the underworldly existence her family chose for her. She is forced to betray herself, and as a black woman in a dilemma, notice also that her only real option was to be a musician—as if to suggest that black people are only allowed to be important publicly if they become entertainers.
Music and stardom
Bri's father was a rapper, but he was killed in an instance of gang violence. Bri is a star before long, just like him, but instead of getting to make art, she learns that there is a pre-existing economy around fame and success (less and less these days, but still). The economy of stardom leaves her at odds with her role as a musician. She wanted her music to help people, but the public has construed her as a person of controversy.
