Which artist won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music for the hip hop album DAMN.?

Kendrick Lamar won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his hip hop album “DAMN.”

The Pulitzer announcement recognized the album as a virtuosic song collection that captured the complexity of contemporary African American life. Released in 2017, “DAMN.” combined narrative rap, shifting voices, religious imagery, political tension, and highly accessible singles including “HUMBLE.” and “DNA.”

Lamar became the first non-classical and non-jazz musician to win the music Pulitzer, making the award a landmark moment in the recognition of hip hop by a major American arts institution. The prize was awarded in 2018, not in the year the album was released. A frequent mix-up is naming “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Lamar’s 2015 album, which received extensive critical acclaim but was not the Pulitzer-winning record. The award citation specifically honored “DAMN.” as a unified artistic work.