Kendrick Lamar Becomes First Rapper To Win Pulitzer Prize For Music
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Compton-based artist has just made international history.
Congratulations to @kendricklamar, @dangerookipawaa and @Interscope! #Pulitzer pic.twitter.com/fFQBYnoW9F
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) April 16, 2018
Rapper Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN." has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. It's the first non-classical or jazz work to win the award.
The Pulitzer board on Monday called the album a work that captures the complexity of African-American life.
Lamar has been praised and lauded for his deep lyrical content, remarkable live performances, and his profound mix of hip-hop, spoken word, jazz, soul, funk, poetry and African sounds.
His major-label albums "good kid, m.A.A.d city," ''To Pimp a Butterfly" and "DAMN." became works of art, with Lamar writing songs about blackness, street life, police brutality, perseverance, survival and self-worth.
His piercing raps helped him become the voice of the generation, and easily ascend as the leader in hip-hop and cross over to audiences outside of rap, from rock to pop to jazz.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)