There’s pretty much no way anyone’s seen the film Every N****r is a Star. That’s just a guess, but I’m probably right. I’m also going to have to continue using asterisk for the remainder of this write up, but that’s how it goes.

Much like in the blaxploitation genre in the States, there were black folks in every country around the world working towards a full realization of freedom and self empowerment during the ‘70s. A part of that is obviously controlling a form of media that portrays one’s self and one’s peers in a positive light. Judging by the title to this film, that’s what’s going on. And while I’d heard of such a flick existing, as well as its accompanying soundtrack, after a few years of looking for it whenever the feature was brought to mind didn’t yield anything other than disappointment.

Much like Rockers or The Harder They Come, it should be assumed that Every N****r seeks to recast the down trodden in heroic terms. I’m mean, look at the title for God’s sake. And of course, just like it’s counterparts in the States, the Jamaican centric film needed to sport some fine, funky tunes, because along with all the other tropes of the blaxploitation genre, a strong plot usually isn’t included. Enlisting Boris Gardiner, a one time member of Byron Lee’s Dragonaires, imbued the music with a grit that would have been absent if any number of other producers were enlisted.

The history of JA music is tied to the States in addition to making use of various island based musical genres. But here on the Every N****r OST, the funk quotient is ratcheted up to somewhere near Alton Ellis’ “Alton’s Groove.” Gardiner never achieved anything like the fame that Ellis did, but there’s no doubt that both singers were able to insert a gritty style of music reminiscent of the Stax Records stable into JA sounds.

Since there’s no way to gauge how these tracks merge with the plot of the film, we’re gonna just have to rely on the various strains of music related on the soundtrack to suss out its direction. “Rats in the Ghetto,” though, doesn’t help too much considering it’s just Gardiner leading his band through a dub related instrumental. It’s hard to even imagine the track working in a film setting, unless it was set over top of a cheese ball sun set somewhere.

So, alright. It’s probably not gonna be too easy t o reconstruct a damnable thing about the film, which makes its sparseness all the more aggravating. Maybe we’d be able to guess, based just upon the title track, that there’s some semblance of a struggling performer who finally makes it out of abject poverty and into a Cadillac – or something like that.

Whatever Gardiner was seeking to impart to listeners of the soundtrack and viewers of the film is really just gone. But with an album closer like “Negril,” it can’t be missed too much with all of those organ solos set atop ample funky guitar and hand drums.