​Kendrick Lamar Becomes First Rapper To Win Pulitzer Prize For Music

The Pulitzer Prize is one of those massive awards that many of us know about, but understand little more outside of the fact that it's kind of a big deal.

The award, which was established in 1917 honoring the late newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, is given yearly to honour achievements in journalism, literature and musical composition in the United States.

However, while the prestigious prize does give a nod to musicians, there is only one category for this compared to several for writers - and until now this has only been won by people within classical and jazz genres.

Then in steps Kendrick Lamar, who has shaken things up by becoming the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Lamar was given the accolade for his album DAMN., which is his fourth LP and was released in April last year.

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger praised Lamar's work, describing it as a "virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African American life."

According to the Pulitzer Prize Twitter account, administrator Dana Canedy also told Lamar: "We're both making history."

While the prize winners don't usually make acceptance speeches, in a Facebook Live video streamed on the Pulitzer Prize's page, Lamar said: "I've been writing my whole life, so to get this type of recognition - it's beautiful."

Speaking to Rolling Stone last August about his artistic mindset while creating the double-platinum-selling LP, Lamar explained: "The initial goal was to make a hybrid of my first two commercial albums.

"That was our total focus, how to do that sonically, lyrically, through melody - and it came out exactly how I heard it in my head."

He continued: "It's all pieces of me. My musicality has been driving me since I was four years old. It's just pieces of me, man, and how I execute it is the ultimate challenge.

"Going from [previous album] To Pimp a Butterfly to DAMN., that shit could have crashed and burned if it wasn't executed right. So I had to be real careful on my subject matter and how I weave in and out of the topics, where it still organically feels like me."

Topics: Celebrity, News, Music, Music News

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman