The Pulitzer Prize was “one of those things” rapper Kendrick Lamar only “heard about in school” when he was young. Never did he imagine he’d be part of it; that he’d eventually be recognized by the “academic world.”
And it’s about time that hip-hop gets taken seriously, said the 31-year-old musician. “It took a long time for people to embrace us—outside of our community, our culture—to see this not just as vocal lyrics, but to see that this is really [about] pain, hurt and true stories of our lives on wax.”
Kendrick’s commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, “Damn,” became the first nonclassical and nonjazz record to be given the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
The award-giving body described his work as “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”
“For it to get the recognition that it deserves as an art form … makes me feel good about hip-hop,” he said.—ALLAN POLICARPIO