 Parker was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Carolyn, a 17-year-old mother at the time. His mother never married his biological father, but did wed the man who gave Parker his last name. Parker has four younger sisters. According to a DNA analysis, some of his ancestry is from the Tikar people of modern-day Cameroon. During Parker's time in middle school, his mother fell in love with Walter Whitfield, who was stationed in Bath, Maine, in the United States Air Force. Although his mother married Whitfield and moved to Maine, Parker, despite the physical distance after the move, remained close to his biological father emotionally. His father died when Parker was eleven, however. Parker became involved in classroom fights and home power struggles with his stepfather, Whitfield. Parker moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia to stay with his maternal uncle, Jay Combs, a former wrestler, at age 14. Nate's great-grandmother got sick and his mother moved back to Hampton Roads, Virginia and lived in the Churchland High School zone, where Nate joined her. Sharing a three-bedroom apartment with four uncles, his mom, aunt, and grandmother, Parker said "we didn 't have many material things but we loved each other unconditionally."
