Kendrick Lamar begins his latest album,To Pimp A Butterfly, with a statement.

Although it wasn’t Kendrick Lamar’s voice saying the phrase, To Pimp A Butterfly’s opening track, “Wesley’s Theory,” begins with the sound of a vinyl record playing “Every Nigger Is a Star.”

The song playing was recorded by Jamaican artist Boris Gardiner.

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After hearing Gardiner’s feature on Kendrick’s latest offering, Boomshots profiled the “old-school Jamaican legend.”

The song the phrase was drawn from is titled “Every Nigger Is a Star,” the title track of the soundtrack for a Jamaican blaxploitation film of the same name. Gardiner’s song has spawned multiple reggae renditions, including one by Big Youth.

According to the website blaxploitationpride, the Every Nigger Is a Star movie aimed at “turning the word Nigger on its head for the black population of Jamaica in the ’70s.”

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Gardiner is credited on Lamar’s album for “Wesley’s Theory” alongside George Clinton, Thundercat, Sounwave, Flying Lotus and Lamar.

Listen to the original track below:

“Wesley’s Theory”:

Recent Boris Gardiner interview:

For more Kendrick Lamar coverage, watch the following DX Daily:

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