Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer Prize For Music

According to Billboard, Kendrick Lamar has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. He makes history today with this feat, as the first musician to win for an album that is not classical or jazz. Read more about the win from Billboard here!

Kendrick Lamar is one of the most streamed artists in the world with his latest album in excess of two billion combined streams. Fresh off his six wins at the 2017 VMAs, including Video of the Year, Best Hip Hop video, Best Cinematography, Direction, Art Direction and Visual Effects, he is regarded as one of the most important, critically acclaimed and creatively inventive artists globally.

Platinum-selling, Grammy-award winning artist Kendrick Lamar is one of the rare artists who has achieved critical and commercial success while earning the respect and support of those who inspired him. A native of Compton, California, Lamar released his debut album,good kid, m.A.A.d cityin October 2012 which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and earned him seven Grammy Award nominations. His second album,To Pimp a Butterfly, released in March 2015 immediately earned rave reviews and topped the Billboard 200 with sales of 325,000 copies within its first week, despite it coming a week early due to a technical accident. The album garnered Lamar five Grammy nominations with a win for Best Rap Album.

On April 14 2017, Lamar released his fourth studio album,DAMN.which sold 603,300 copies in its first week, the largest first week of his career and any other release that year. The album shot directly to number one on the Billboard 200 where it remained for four consecutive weeks. Complex Magazine claimed it is his "most ambitious album to date", NPR called it "introspective and unforgiving" and Rolling Stone named him "the most gifted rapper of a generation."