Kendrick Lamar has already won himself a lot of acclaim for his 2017 album Damn, including the Grammy for Best Rap Album. Now he's landed himself an even bigger and more prestigious honor, however, as he's just been awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Described by host Dana Canedy as “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life,” Damn marks the first time a rap album has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
In fact, as Associated Press points out, this is the first time a non-classic or jazz artist has won the award.
The previous Pulitzer Prize for Music was awarded to experimental composer Du Yun for her opera Angel's Bone. The Public Service Pulitzer Prize for journalism, meanwhile, went to Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of The New York Times and Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker for their reporting of Harvey Weinstein and Hollywood's sexual abuse.
Watch the 2018 Pulitzer Prize announcement video below, with Kendrick's big moment at the 17:40 mark.
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