Last week, Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize for his fourth LP, “DAMN.” This is the first time a Pulitzer hasn’t gone to a classical or jazz artist, and the country is freaking out (in a good way.)
The Pulitzer 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.”
This Pulitzer is not only a well-deserved success for Kendrick Lamar, it’s win for hip-hop as well. Finally, for the first time, this genre is being acknowledged for its brilliance in the highest musical institutions. And while many musicians earned Pulitzers years after their initial relevance (think Bob Dylan), Lamar’s message is a potent discussion of what is happening right now.
“The time was right (…) 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.” Dana Canedy – the first woman of color, and the youngest person ever to give Pulitzers – told the New York Times.
“In an era of warp-speed digital and social change in journalism and unsettling assaults on a free and independent press, the role of the Pulitzer Prizes is more vital than ever.”
We see Lamar’s win as an opening to the good that is to come. The ‘unspoken rule’ limiting genres in the Pulitzers has been broken. The floodgates are open – let the diverse, unconventional geniuses come flooding in.
“The time was right (…) 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.” Dana Canedy – the first woman of color, and the youngest person ever to give Pulitzers – told the New York Times.
“In an era of warp-speed digital and social change in journalism and unsettling assaults on a free and independent press, the role of the Pulitzer Prizes is more vital than ever.”
We see Lamar’s win as an opening to the good that is to come. The ‘unspoken rule’ limiting genres in the Pulitzers has been broken. The floodgates are open – let the diverse, unconventional geniuses come flooding in.
