Kendrick Lamar just became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer

There's officially no need for Kendrick Lamar to be humble anymore.

On Monday, Lamar became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer for music for his latest album, Damn. The Pulitzer committee hailed Damn as a collection of songs that capture "the complexity of modern African-American life" with " vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism." Lamar's fourth studio album beat out two other collections on the shortlist: a traditional string quartet, and an album that apparently pulled excerpts from ventriloquism textbooks.

Damn also won the Grammy for Best Rap Album this year, but the Compton rapper has oddly never won in any of the major, non-rap categories at the Grammys, as HuffPost editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen noted. See the full list of Pulitzer prize winners and finalists here.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up