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Kunta Kinte is the main character in the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Haley’s said that Kunta Kinte was his own great, great, great grandfather and the character is based on a mix of fact and fiction. Kinte refused to accept the name “Toby” that slave masters tried to give him and his right foot was cut off following his attempts to escape the plantation he was enslaved on.
Kendrick Lamar told MTV about his inspiration from the TV series Roots:
"I’ve been called many things growing up. In the state of just being a black man, I’ve been called many things … But it’s taking that negativity and being proud of it and making it your own. Saying I am a king no matter what you call me."
According to Songfacts, producer Sounwave told Spin magazine:
"Me, I was like, ‘This is it! We got it right here.’ Me and Kendrick, we always work very hands on together, and this track, I just knew it. And I was waiting for his reaction as he was listening to it, thinking, ‘Yes, this is it.’ And he’s like, ‘It’s cool… but… I want it a little more nasty.’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about? This is like the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made.’ And he was like, ‘Just, trust me on this. Simplify it.’
I ended up stripping a bunch of stuff off; I took all ten guitars off, and it just left one little bass line, and once I did that, I understood 100 percent exactly where he wanted to go with it. He’s a genius, he really should have got credit on it, but he was being modest – as long as the art was there, he was happy. A lot of people will never hear the original but it was, like, the jazziest record in the world. And it ended up being one of the nastiest records in the world."
Kendrick told NME:
"It’s the story of struggle and standing up for what you believe in. No matter how many barriers you gotta break down, no matter how many escape routes you gotta run to tell the truth. That’s what I think we all can relate to. Just being the most confident in the things that I wrote and the ideas that I have. Going back to the essence of being a true lyricist at heart."
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