Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. wins Pulitzer Music prize. 1st non-Jazz/Classical to do so

[Deleted member 3058]

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NPR: Kendrick Lamar's 'DAMN.' Wins Historic Pulitzer Prize In Music

Since (at least) the release of good kid, m.A.A.d. city in 2012, the singularity of Kendrick Lamar has been plainly evident. But with the Pulitzer Prize in Music for 2018 being given to the Compton rapper for his 2017 album DAMN., his exceptionalism is now officially historic: It's the first time in the prize's history that it has been given to an artist outside of the classical or jazz community.

"A virtuosic song collection," the Pulitzer board writes of DAMN., "unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life." In addition to topping many year-end best lists (including ours), DAMN. was awarded five Grammys, though it lost out on album of the year to Bruno Mars' 24K Magic.

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DAMN. itself is — particularly when considered next to the looser, jazz-rooted musicality of Lamar's album To Pimp A Butterfly from 2015 — a thoroughly modern document of hip-hop's present and near future, in both sound and narrative scope. In it Lamar questions his own motivations and those of the culture which helped make and define him (and that very nearly unmade him as a young man), the paranoia of success and the process of acceptance, all framed within bleeding-edge productions and nuanced sequencing. Late last year, Lamar released a "collector's edition" of DAMN. with the original album's tracklist reversed — played back-to-front it revealed even more of the album's shifting, contrasting revelations of self.

"Both of these pieces," Lamar said of the album's duality, "are who I am."

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Congrats to Kendrick for having the first non-Jazz or Classical album to receive this honor. A truly historic moment.

 

[overcast]

He's come so far, goat tier.

 

[Llyrwenne]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/kendrick-lamar-won-the-pulitzer-prizer-for-music-for-damn.36564/