Snoop Lion urges America to ‘wake up’

Snoop Lion has urged America to acknowledge the country's brutality following the Boston terror attacks.

The rapper is making a stand against violence with his new album Reincarnated and single No Guns Allowed.

The 41-year-old said he was inspired to make a stand after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings and the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre massacre.

"That incident that happened in Boston should've made all of America wake up and see this can happen to any of us," he told MTV RapFix Live.

"We need to get up on it, man."

In the past, Snoop has released songs with titles including Murder Was the Case and 187 On An Undercover Cop.

But the star has now adopted a new philosophy, attributing his peaceful frame of mind to his newfound Rastafarian way of life.

"My past is my past, but looking into the future I can try to represent for those kids out there who don't have a voice," he declared. "To try to speak for them so they can go to school and feel safe or go to the theatres and feel safe.

"I'm affected by all of these kids that's getting killed in these little schools, I'm affected by these people getting shot at in public venues. I'm affected by all of this gun violence because I have a heart and I'm emotionally connected to everybody that's connected to me."

Snoop is hoping he can use his influence for good, with his new record pushing a message of love and peace.

He has also become involved with an initiative which aims to get guns off the streets of America.

"I learned how to take all of my positive energy and just become a mirror with it," he revealed. "I've always had power, and sometimes I felt like I was leading the blind to a dark alley, and not on purpose."