Kendrick Lamar Is the First Rapper in History to Win a Pulitzer Prize — Here’s Why

Rapper Kendrick Lamar is one of the most venerated lyricists in the game. And his 2024 beef with Drake is one of the most talked about rivalries in entertainment. The rapper enjoyed No. 1 Billboard chart status for "Not Like Us" in 2024, and he managed to win Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards.

Then, he rode his 2024 success into a Super Bowl halftime performance filled with further digs at Toronto's "certified loverboy."

But Kendrick did also nab another distinction years ago: a Pulitzer Prize. Here's what it was for.

In 2018, the "To Pimp a Butterfly" creator was awarded the Pulitzer music prize for his album "D*mn. The category, which was established in 1943, highlights "distinguished musical composition by an American."

USA Today explained why Kendrick's win was such a big deal. He was the first musical artist who wasn't a classical composer to receive the award. In recent history, three jazz musicians also were given the award: Wynton Marsalis (1997), Ornette Coleman (2007), and Henry Threadgill (2016).

Moreover, he was also the first pop musician to get a Pulitzer, ever. According to Regina Carter, who is a chair for the Pulitzer's jury, which is composed of five judges, the tracks on Kendrick's album were viewed as "merited and meaningful."

Carter, a violinist, discussed why she advocated for Kendrick to be recognized for his work in an interview with Detroit Free Press.

He was one of three "unanimously selected finalists" for the distinction.

"It's part of the American art form. We felt that his delivery of the work, his writing, was really powerful in the messages he had," she said.

She added that repeat listening of the album further corroborates its artistic merit, "You have to really sit with them, and they have heavier meaning than when you hear them the first time."

Furthermore, Carter explained that the subject matter of the "D*mn" conveyed through a series of songs that prioritizes storytelling is another reason for its Pulitzer consideration.

Also, she said the artist's ability to express on a personal level had broader implications. "It's his history; it's our history. And no matter what side of the aisle you're on politically, with all the ugliness going on in the world, it speaks to that in a really creative way.

There were some detractors who argued at the time that they didn't think Kendrick's collection of songs deserved to receive the award. The Twitter account New Music Drama held a poll asking users on the app what they thought the "Ultimate Bad Pulitzer Take" was.

According to one commenter, it was the fact that Kendrick received the award: "My outrage at a rapper winning the thing has NOTHING to do with 'race' (his or mine), but everything to do with culture. Rap music is GARBAGE, and a purveyor of it winning the Pulitzer is the ultimate in philistinism."

Someone else remarked, "The Pulitzer Prize has no meaning in classic music. It's over."

And then there were those who argued that handing out the Pulitzer to pop music acts just meant that purveyors of classical music had one less avenue in having their work in this specific medium recognized.