Kendrick Lamar becomes first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize for his ‘virtuosic’ album ‘DAMN.’
Lamar’s victory overshadowed other winners, including fiction awardee Andrew Sean Greer
Pulitzer judges upended decades of tradition by awarding its music prize Monday to Kendrick Lamar for his rap album DAMN., a sharp departure from the classical and jazz works the body have consistently favoured.
The Pulitzers were once so restrictive that an advisory board rejected giving a prize to Duke Ellington. The closest precedent to Lamar’s win came in 2008 when Bob Dylan received an honorary Pulitzer.
The group’s board called Lamar’s album a “virtuosic song collection” and said it captures “the modern African American life.” Classical composers were named as finalists: Michael Gilberton for Quartet and Ted Hearne for Sound from the Bench.
Humble, from the album DAMN. Warning: lyrics may offend
Lamar has been lauded for his deep lyrical content, politically charged live performances, and his profound mix of hip-hop, spoken word, jazz, soul, funk, poetry and African sounds. Since emerging on the music scene with the 2011 album Section. 80, he has achieved the perfect mix of commercial appeal and critical respect.