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Despite What Some Critics Are Saying, Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Makes History

Despite What Some Critics Are Saying, Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Makes History

“DAMN.” That’s the name of the latest CD by rapper Kendrick Lamar. And now it is a Pulitzer Prize winner. It is the first Hip-Hop album to ever have this honor.

And it is actually the first non-classical or non-jazz artist to win the a Pulitzer, since the organization included music in 1943. The Pulitzer Prize Board called “DAMN.” “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 Huffington Post reported.

While some music observers thought there would be outcry, instead many are impressed. “It’s big for hip-hop. I think it’s big for our country. It’s big for music. But it’s big for the Pulitzers, too. Institutions are not stuck in time, either. Institutions can change,” Farah Jasmine Griffin, a Columbia professor, told the New York Daily News.

In addition to Griffin, the music jury this year included music critic David Hajdu, violinist Regina Carter, Paul Cremo from the Metropolitan Opera and the composer David Lang.

“DAMN” was selected by a five-member music jury, who listened to about 180 pieces of music. There were three finalists for the music award: Lamar’s album, Michael Gilbertson’s “Quartet,” and Ted Hearne’s “Sound from the Bench.” “DAMN.” was a unanimous selected as the winner.

“In many ways, Lamar’s ability to paint a true picture of Black life is what makes ‘DAMN.’ –and the rest of his catalog–Pulitzer-worthy. The conceptual conflicts he dissects throughout the album–pride vs. humility, love vs. lust, fear vs. trust (mostly in God), individuality vs. conformity, and, as Lamar explores in the album’s conclusion, ‘me vs. me’–are easily recognizable. It’s hard for Black folks not to relate to Lamar’s boisterous pride in his African ancestry, his crisis of faith, his fear of returning to poverty and his anger at racial inequality,” reported the HuffPo.

Of course, some are incensed that a Hip-Hop album was bestowed with the award. While some of it cuts on racial lines, much of the blow back deals with class with those critical of the choice calling rap “low” art, versus “high” art. And these critics say the Pulitzer board is dumbing down.

“I wouldn’t describe it as a shift,” Dana Canedy, the new administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, told the Los Angeles Times when asked how she thinks this will affect the music prize going forward. “I think that is a big moment for both hip-hop and for the Pulitzer Prizes, one that we’re very proud of.”

She added: “Obviously this is not a genre we’ve seen celebrated before, so that in that sense it’s historical, and we’re glad to have made that happen.” Canedy hopes that the move “sheds a whole different light on hip-hop.”

FILE – In this July 7, 2017, file photo, Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d’ete de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada.On Monday, April 16, 2018, Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album “Damn.” (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)