Woke rapper and all-around pretty boy Kendrick Lamar just won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in music for his album DAMN. The award was announced this morning with the board committee calling it
“a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”
The honor made Lamar the first non-classical or jazz performer to win the prize, which has gone in the past to such notables as Bob Dylan, George Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Hank Williams and Duke Ellington.
via CBS News:
That makes Lamar’s win that much more important: His platinum-selling major-label albums — “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” ″To Pimp a Butterfly” and “DAMN.” — became works of art, with Lamar writing songs about blackness, street life, police brutality, perseverance, survival and self-worth. His piercing and sharp raps helped him become the voice of the generation, and easily ascend as the leader in hip-hop and cross over to audiences outside of rap, from rock to pop to jazz. He’s also been a dominator on the charts, having achieved two dozen Top 40 hits, including a No. 1 success with “Humble,” and he has even collaborated with the likes of U2, Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons, Rihanna and Beyonce.
His music, with songs like “Alright” and “The Blacker the Berry,” have become anthems in the wake of high-profile police shootings of minorities as the conversation about race relations dominates news headlines. He brought of dose of seriousness to the 2015 BET Awards, rapping on top of a police car with a large American flag waving behind him. At the 2016 Grammys, during his visual-stunning, show-stopping performance, he appeared beaten, in handcuffs, with chains around his hands and bruises on his eyes as he delivered powerful lyrics to the audience
Along with the prize, he wins $15,000.
The New York Times and The New Yorker were also awarded prizes for their reporting on Harvey Weinstein that put the #MeToo movement in the national spotlight.
(Photo: Pacific Coast News)
