Kendrick Lamar, like many other artists, has been taking a stand on the social issues occurring in the United States lately with his music.

The Compton rapper’s album To Pimp a Butterfly has even been wisely recognized as a modern masterpiece and he recently sat down with the U.K’s Guardian Magazine where spoke about why addressing serious issues is a matter of integrity.

Kendrick also spoke about how he wrote his song “The Blacker the Berry” in range after the death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman.

K. Dot goes on to say, “These are issues that if you come from that environment it’s inevitable to speak on,” said Lamar on why the Martin case impacted him so deeply. “It’s already in your blood because I am Trayvon Martin, you know. I’m all of these kids. It’s already implanted in your brain to come out your mouth as soon as you’ve seen it on the TV. I had that track way before that, from the beginning to the end, and the incident just snapped it for me.”

Lamar was also asked if certain rappers were “discouraged from speaking out about politics by a controversy-shy record industry” and he responded with the following: “No, there’s no excuse,” he said. “It’s really just about integrity. We all like to have fun. I like to have fun, too. But where do you stop and say, ‘You know what? There’s actually some real shit going on out there that people can relate to more than any singalong I can bring to the table.”

You can check out the rest of the in-depth interview from Kendrick Lamar by clicking here. Big ups to the To Pimp a Butterfly artist for taking a stand! – Lupe Looove