Kenneth Brown Billups Sr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 14, 1918, the son of Louis and Ellen Brown Billups. He grew up in an elite African American neighborhood known as the Ville. He was one of two sons of a longtime minister of the Antioch Baptist Church, one of the most important social anchors of the Ville. In later years Billups served as minister of music and director of the chancel choir at the church.