An article published by MacLean’s, regarding the move towards positive messages within upcoming rap albums in comparison to the use of gangster/crime content. An emphasis is placed on Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”, which the artist dropped at 11:45 pm on March 18th, 2015.
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The (R)evolution of Hip-Hop 
A big part about ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, which is a phenomenal album in my opinion, is that it continues from where Tupac left off. Pac recognized that he probably wouldn’t be around for long but that he would inspire the person who would make the change in the world he longed for. Kendrick has self-proclaimed himself that person and the king of hip hop (i.e. in King Kunta he states “I don’t want you monkey mouth mother fuckers sitting in my throne again”, most likely referring to Kanye, Jay-Z, etc.). He focuses on the issue of violence against African Americans but instead of shining the spot light on white-against-black violence, he instead looks at violence within the African American community (i.e. in The Blacker the Berry he says “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? When gang banging make me kill a n***** blacker than me?”). With a heightened focus on police brutality, especially in areas such as Ferguson, Kendrick isn’t attempting to lay the blame on any one race, but instead on the culture of violence that many live within and only serve to further. The entire album is conscious, which as Shuker would state, is more about building a sense of community and promoting social activism rather than the money. One only needs to listen to the ending dialogue between Kendrick and Tupac (done by using a radio interview featuring Tupac from 1999) on Mortal Man to realize that the caterpiller cannot pimp the butterfly forever, but instead will rise above its problems with persistance and see the world in a new light.
(Yung Turnups) (comment mark)
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