Kendrick Lamar Wrote “Blacker the Berry” Right After Trayvon Martin’s Death

Kendrick Lamar has been praised by his peers for being one of the few high-profile artists taking a stand on social issues in the United States with his music and rapping about relevant issues that impact the black community. Scheduled to perform at the UK's Wireless Festival on July 4, The Guardian did an in-depth profile on the rapper  and K.Dot spoke about how he wrote his song "The Blacker the Berry" in a rage after the death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman.

“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 rappers are "discouraged from speaking out about politics by a controversy-shy record industry" and 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.’”

The rapper finally touched on his next album and said that he knows exactly what's on deck for his music:

“I know exactly what I want to say next,”he said. “Everything is going to make sense – not only to myself but to anybody who wants to understand life and music. Everything will make a little more sense.”