“Every Nigger Is A Star” is the opening track on Boris Gardiner’s 1973 release  “Every Nigger Is A Star.” The album was a soundtrack for the 1973 movie with the same title, and Boris Gardiner composed and performed the whole album.

 Boris Gardiner is a bass player, vocalist, and reggae musician from Kingston, Jamaica. However, this 1973 release has strong influence of funk and soul.

Boris Gardiner has landed 3 of his songs on UK charts, including “You’re Everything To Me,” “The Meaning of Christmas,” and “I Want To Wake Up With You,” which even hit number 1.

Because the 1973 film has been regarded with poor reception, this record unfortunately failed to reach a larger audience.

This part of “Every Nigger Is A Star” was sampled by Flying Lotus, Flippa, Sounwave, and Thundercat to make “Wesley’s Theory,” the opening track on Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly.”

The track has since experienced new life since being sampled here, and also serves as the opening track to the feature film “Moonlight,” released in 2016.

Kendrick said “Wesley’s Theory” was inspired by the feeling of first getting signed to a record label, and learning to control the excitement of suddenly becoming far more wealthy than before and being exposed to situations you were never taught how to manage.

In an interview, Kendrick said “Wesley’s Theory” was the song that inspired To Pimp A Butterfly’s album cover.

In 1973, Atlanta elected their first Black Mayor, also the first in a major Southern city.

On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc hosted a Back To School Jam Party at 1520 Sedgwick Ave where he played only the drum breaks of jazz/soul songs. This is officially known as the moment when hip-hop was birthed.