Kendrick Lamar was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album “DAMN.” on Monday, becoming the first non-classical or jazz musician to win the award since the category’s inception in 1943.
The 2017 album beat out composer Michael Gilbertson’s “Quartet” and Ted Hearne’s “Sound from the Bench,” a collection of four choral works relating to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Upon its release last April “DAMN.” was hailed by both fans and critics, earning a score of 95 out of 100 on Metacritic, making it the highest-rated album of the year. It also topped the Billboard albums chart for three weeks, selling more than a million copies, and was awarded Best Rap Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards.