Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Signals Hip-Hop’s Growing Cultural Clout

“DAMN.,” considered the rapper’s most introspective work to date, was 2017’s most popular R&B or hip-hop album

Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize win is the latest sign of the growing recognition of hip-hop—this time from one of America’s highest-profile cultural institutions.

The rapper, who won for his album “DAMN.,” is the first winner who isn’t a classical or jazz artist since the first Pulitzer for music was issued in 1943. Aside from previous award winners Wynton Marsalis, Henry Threadgill and Ornette Coleman, it has largely been a prize for classical composers.

...