Kendrick Lamar Becomes First Rapper To Win Pulitzer Music Prize (Video)

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, an American rapper and songwriter, has won the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Lamar’s album, “DAMN” won him the Pulitzer Prize for music, becoming the first non-classical or jazz work to win the award. Mr Lamar is the first rapper to win the award since the Pulitzers expanded to music in 1943.

The Pulitzer board called the album a work that captures the complexity of African-American life.

“The time was right,” Dana Canedy, the administrator of the prizes, said in an interview after the winners were announced. “We are very proud of this selection. It means that the jury and the board judging system worked as it’s supposed to — the best work was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.”

She added: “It shines a light on hip-hop in a completely different way. This is a big moment for hip-hop music and a big moment for the Pulitzers.”

Ms Canedy said the board’s decision to award the 30-year-old rapper was unanimous, noting that the board 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.”

Though the rapper was not immediately available to comment on his win, Terrence Henderson, the record executive known as Punch from Mr. Lamar’s label, Top Dawg Entertainment, acknowledged the achievement on Twitter, writing that from now on, no one should “speak with anything less than respect in your mouth for Kendrick Lamar.”

Lamar’s “DAMN.” which featured Rihanna and U2, along with kinetic production from Sounwave and Mike WiLL Made-It, among others, topped the charts and was among last year’s most-streamed albums, while also tackling thorny issues both personal and political, including race, faith and the burdens of commercial success.