Video will appear as you scroll through the story
Kendrick Lamar · S1 E2
Chicago to Compton
His parents fled Chicago's South Side for California. The gangs followed
Chicago, 1984. Kenny Duckworth loads a car on the South Side with everything he owns, Paula Oliver in the passenger seat, and drives 2,000 miles west toward a cousin's apartment in Compton.
Kendrick Lamar ft. Rihanna, LOYALTY. What does it mean to stay loyal when your family, your block, and your survival all pull in different directions? That is the question Kenny and Paula carried from Chicago to Compton.
South Side Blood
Kenny grew up on Chicago's South Side, deep in Gangster Disciples territory. He wasn't watching from the sidelines. By the time he left for California, the street life was part of him, and Compton's gangs would recognize that the minute he arrived.
“My pops is from Chicago. A real street dude. He didn't shelter me from none of it. He wanted me to see the world for what it really was so I could decide for myself what I wanted to be.”
— Kendrick Lamar, interview with Complex, 2012
South Side, Chicago
Where Kenny Duckworth and Paula Oliver grew up before driving west. The same South Side that produced Kanye West, Common, and Chief Keef.
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did Kenny and Paula pick Compton specifically?
LOYALTY. ft. Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar (2017)
On the surface, LOYALTY. sounds like a love song. Underneath, it's a meditation on competing allegiances: to your partner, your family, your block, your past. DJ Dahi's production is deceptively smooth, while Rihanna's hook turns the word "loyalty" into something that sounds like a prayer and a threat at the same time.
Chicago to Compton: The Migration
Which Chicago gang was Kenny Duckworth affiliated with before moving to Compton?
DUCKWORTH., Kendrick Lamar
From DAMN. (2017). The album's closing track tells the true story of Kenny Duckworth's life in Compton, including the fateful night at a KFC where he crossed paths with Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. After an episode about Kenny's journey from Chicago to Compton, this is the perfect next listen.
Kenny and Paula settle into Compton, surrounded by family and surrounded by gangs. But one afternoon in 1995, their eight-year-old son sees something from his father's shoulders that rewires his brain forever. Next: Tupac, Dr. Dre, a music video shoot, and the moment Kendrick decides what he wants to be.
0 XP earned this session