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Kendrick Lamar is now a Pulitzer Prize winner!
As announced by the Pulitzer Arts Foundation on Monday, Lamar has been awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Grammy award-winning album, “DAMN.” This makes Lamar the first rap artist to earn the prestigious award.
The foundation called the album, “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African American life.”
Congratulations to @kendricklamar, @dangerookipawaa and @Interscope! #Pulitzer pic.twitter.com/fFQBYnoW9F
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) April 16, 2018
Since Lamar started his music career, he has used his platform and gift of lyricism to celebrate Blackness, promote self-love, and highlight the realities of being Black in America. During a 2017 interview with comedian Dave Chappelle, when asked what he thinks about when writing an album, Lamar responded:
“I really focus on what my fans will take from it, people living their day-to-day lives. At the end of the day, the music isn’t for me; it’s for people who are going through their struggles and want to relate to someone who feels the same way they do. I’ve got to take Mom out of the equation. I’ve got to go all-in, expressing myself, right there in the moment.”
Congratulations, Kendrick on making history!