All About Kendrick Lamar's Parents, Paula Oliver and Kenny Duckworth (and Which Grammy-Nominated Album They Feature On)

Kendrick Lamar started developing his intricate lyricism, thought-provoking storytelling and socially conscious themes while being raised by his parents, Paula Oliver and Kenny Duckworth.

The 22-time Grammy-winning rapper, who dropped Duckworth from his name when he started rapping, has often credited his parents for shaping his musical palate.

“I grew up in Compton, the west side of Compton…[and] my moms and my pops were influential,” Lamar said in a 2012 interview for VEVO and McDonald’s. “They played everything for me — gangsta rap to oldies. You’d hear Snoop, Dre, and then you’d hear Marvin Gaye on the next track.”

While Lamar has achieved massive success with albums like good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly and DAMN., he remains connected to his West Coast roots and the values instilled by his parents. Their personalities and resilience played a crucial role in his outlook on life, especially as he witnessed violence and instability during his childhood.

“My pops — he's funny as f---,” Lamar told Rolling Stone in 2017. “My mom's a crazy-as-f---, funny, loving person. These things countered the negative shit, helped me to be able to understand tragedy, but not break from it.”

From making the decision to leave Chicago to popping up on one of his most famous albums, here’s everything to know about Kendrick Lamar's parents, Paula Oliver and Kenny Duckworth.

They moved from Chicago to Compton three years before Lamar was born

Lamar is famously from Compton, Calif., but before he was born, his parents lived in Chicago, where his father, Kenny, was reportedly associated with the Gangster Disciples. Wanting to escape the cycle of violence and crime, Paula convinced Kenny to move to California for a better life.

The couple relocated to Compton in 1984, hoping for new opportunities.

“They were going to go to San Bernardino,” Lamar told Rolling Stone in 2015. “But my Auntie Tina was in Compton. She got ’em a hotel until they got on their feet, and my mom got a job at McDonald’s.”

Initially, the transition was tough. The rapper said his parents slept in their car, motels or the park.

“Eventually, they saved enough money to get their first apartment, and that’s when they had me,” Lamar added. After welcoming the future Pulitzer Prize winner in 1987, Kenny and Paula had two more sons and a daughter.

They inspired Lamar’s craft

Music was a constant presence in Kenny and Paula's household, exposing Lamar to a diverse range of artists from an early age. The Grammy winner also credits his parents’ contrasting personalities — “my father being a complete realist, just in the streets. And my mother being a dreamer” — for his musical tastes.

“It's always the yin and the yang, the good versus the evil,” Lamar told GQ in 2016. “And that pushed me toward the music that I love to listen to. You know, Tupac, Biggie, Jay. Your usual suspects. These were the people that was played in my household.”

It also helped that his young parents were plugged into the West Coast hip-hop scene.

“So I was being exposed to all these ideas, from Big Daddy Kane to Eazy-E to the Bay Area—Too Short, E-40—you know, back to Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers,” he continued. “This field of music just broadened my ideas to come.”

Kenny gave Lamar much-needed guidance during his childhood

Lamar has been open about the strife present in his upbringing. This includes allegedly witnessing his first murder at age 5, per NPR, and being surrounded by gang violence. But Lamar believes his father’s presence and guidance kept him safe.

“When you see kids doing things that the world calls harmful or a threat, it's because they don't know how to deal with their emotions,” he told Rolling Stone in 2017 about the impact of having Kenny in his life, especially as the only one of his friends with a father present.

Lamar continued, “When you have a father in your life, you do something, he'll look at you and say, ‘What the f--- is you doing?’ Putting you in your place. Making you feel this small. That was a privilege for me.”

Lamar has supported his parents

Despite moving to California in search of better opportunities, Kenny and Paula still faced financial hardships. Paula did hair while Kenny took on various jobs to support their family, but money remained tight throughout Lamar's childhood.

The Duckworths relied on welfare and food stamps and lived in Section 8 housing, a federal program that provides housing vouchers to help low-income families, the elderly and the disabled afford safe and stable living conditions. Lamar grew up acutely aware of these struggles, as his mother made sure he understood the realities of their situation.

“My moms used to walk me home from school — we didn’t have no car — and we’d talk from the county building to the welfare office,” he told Rolling Stone. Paula added, “He would ask me questions about Section 8 and the Housing Authority, so I’d explain it to him. I was keeping it real.”

One of Lamar's first major purchases after his music career took off was a home in the suburbs east of L.A., which his parents reportedly lived in, per Architectural Digest.

"I got her off Section 8. That's the ultimate feeling," Lamar said in a radio interview. "Because one thing about my mom, she say this, the only thing I have to do for her is continue to love her. Simple as that. She said, 'It was my reason to bring you here anyway. Anything you do for me is just a plus.' When I look at that type of wisdom, it make me wanna do more."

They made an appearance on one of Lamar’s albums

Lamar’s discography is filled with references to his upbringing and parents. Kenny and Paula even play a notable role in his critically acclaimed 2012 major label debut good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Their voices appear in skits throughout the project, offering a glimpse into their family dynamics and the challenges of growing up in Compton. Paula, in particular, is heard leaving voicemails urging Kendrick to return home and stay focused on his dreams.

“The skits bring the storyline together,” Lamar explained to Complex in 2012. “Those skits are actually my real mother and father. Those are people that I was raised by, so I decided to put them in the skits as themselves."

He added, “My parents love the album. They love that I got the chance to tell that story I wanted to tell in a positive light.”

His mom is his biggest fan

Lamar may have millions of fans worldwide, but no one supports him quite like his mother. Paula has always been vocal about her pride in his achievements, and her excitement was on full display when DAMN. was released in 2017.

While critics praised the album, his mother’s review was just as enthusiastic. Lamar shared a heartfelt text from Paula on X, in which she gushed over his work.

“OMG. This cd is bombbbbb! You should of put me and your daddy on this one too,” she wrote, calling it “your best one to me, no bulls--- 💯.”

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