While the notion of “starting from the bottom” is popular in rap music and pop culture in general, it may come as a surprise to most that a lot of our faves didn’t start there at all. In fact, a handful of famous faces like SZA, Michael Jordan, Will Smith and more had pretty decent childhoods.

Even some rappers who’ve garnered serious street cred like Offset and Travis Scott don’t have the stereotypical “rags to riches” upbringing. So that got us thinking and our wheels spinning to see exactly who grew up very middle-class and not of poor. While some of these people’s stories may not come as a surprise, others just might be enlightening.

Keep reading to get all the insight!

Michael Jordan

NBA legend Michael Jordan also grew up in a middle-class home in North Carolina. His father James joined the Air Force and later worked as a mechanic with the goal of eventually becoming a supervisor at the General Electric. His mother Deloris went to trade school and later climbed up the corporate ladder at United Carolina Bank.

Vanessa Williams

Former Miss America winner and “Ugly Betty” star Vanessa Williams also had a middle class upbringing in New York. A classically trained singer, she reportedly attended Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. Williams’ mother was an accomplished pianist and served as a professor at Manhattanville College. Williams’ father was a music teacher who earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Fredonia College and later a master’s from Columbia University.

Tupac Shakur

Despite experiencing homelessness and growing up in poverty, legendary rapper Tupac Shakur still experienced somewhat of a privileged lifestyle by attending a performing arts school in Baltimore before he moved to California in 1988. While there, he was encouraged for his poetic and acting skills.

Kanye West

Ye is also a rapper who didn’t grow up in abject poverty. In fact, he grew up in a middle-class family in Chicago. His father was reportedly a former Black Panther and a photojournalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His mother Donda was a college professor who served as the chair of the English department at Chicago State University. Ye also went on to attend the American Academy of Art and later Chicago State University before eventually dropping out to pursue his music career. There’s definitely nothing rags-to-riches about this.

Jadakiss

Though Jadakiss grew up in Yonkers, New York, he was raised in a fairly stable two parent household with his father reportedly working as a businessman. He also went to private school and attended college for one semester.

Clipse: Pusha T and Malice

While lyrical examination of Clipse rappers Pusha T and Malice might make you think the two of them grew up in poverty, they actually grew up in a middle class home in Virginia Beach. Pusha himself confirmed that he didn’t grow up “in the trenches” in an interview in 2022.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Though he championed for the rights of poor people and the disenfranchised, civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t have any firsthand experience himself. He reportedly lived in a relatively middle-class home and his father served as the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and activist. His mother served an educator, musician, activist and graduated from Spelman College and Morris Brown College.

Travis Scott

In an interview with Complex in 2012, rapper Travis Scott revealed that he had a middle-class upbringing. He also shared that his parents had pretty good careers but the time spent with his grandmother is what gave him an “edge.”

“I was born in Houston, Texas. I grew up in Houston, by Missouri City. It’s like a suburb in the area, it’s middle-class. But I used to stay with my grandma in the hood from ages one to six.,” he said at the time. “My mom worked for Apple and my dad owned his own business. I lived in [Houston] most of my life until I was like 19, I’m 20 now and I stay in L.A.”

He later added: “Growing up, my grandmother stayed in the hood so I seen random crazy shit. [I saw] mad bums and crazy spazzed out motherfuckers, I saw people looking weird, hungry, and grimey. I was always like, ‘I gotta get the fuck out this shit.’ It gave me my edge—[it made me] who I am right now.”

Beyonce

Beyonce’s upbringing, while not super wealthy, never looked like poverty. In fact, her mother Tina Knowles worked as a popular hairdresser while her father Mathew Knowles worked as Xerox salesman before becoming a music executive and managed his daughter’s singing career.

Offset

A Georgia native, rapper Offset also grew up in a middle class family on the outskirts of Atlanta. At age 11, he was already working as a backup dancer, appearing in a popular Whitney Houston video in 2002 before eventually finding fame as a part of the Migos nearly 11 years later. According to Page Six, he only curated a “street” persona to aid in his career narrative.

SZA

SZA’s upbringing never gave poor. In fact, the “Snooze” singer had a very middle-class, suburban lifestyle in New Jersey. Per an interview with Flaunt Magazine, her dad was an executive producer at CNN while her mom worked as an executive at AT&T.

Will Smith

Though Oscar-winning actor Will Smith didn’t grow up super wealthy, according to his own account, he grew up in a pretty decent, middle-class neighborhood in West Philadelphia. Smith’s father worked at a steel mill before eventually starting his own refrigeration firm and did electrical technician work. His mother worked as school board administrator for the state and was a Carnegie Mellon University graduate.

Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle never experienced the poor life, famously joking that his parents “did just well enough so I could grow up poor around white people,” according to the Daily Mail.

“When Nas and them used to talk about the projects, I used to get jealous. It sounded fun,” he said.

He reportedly lived in a house in the North Woodside Neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland–a middle-class area. He also had parents who were reportedly both activists and educators.