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Kendrick Lamar wins Pulitzer Prize

INDIO, CA - APRIL 13:  Kendrick Lamar performs onstage with SZA during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 13, 2018 in Indio, California.  (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Coachella)
INDIO, CA - APRIL 13: Kendrick Lamar performs onstage with SZA during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 13, 2018 in Indio, California. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Coachella)

by Hanna Bubser

April 16, 2018

Rapper Kendrick Lamar is now a Pulitzer Prize winner. Earlier today, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced its 2018 honorees. Among them was Lamar, winning in the music category for his album "DAMN". The win makes Lamar the first artist to win the award for a composition that's neither classical nor jazz.

Released in April of last year, "DAMN" explores what it means to be an African-American in today's society. It won Best Rap Album at this year's Grammys as well as an American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop album, among other honors.

In a statement, the Pulitzer Prize Board praised the album as a “virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

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