In this July 7, 2017, file photo, Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d'ete de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada. Lamar was nominated for seven Grammy nominations on Tuesday, Nov. 28. (AP)
Rapper Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN." has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. It's the first non-classical or jazz work to win the award.
The Pulitzer board on Monday called the album a work that captures the complexity of African-American life.
Lamar has been praised and lauded for his deep lyrical content, remarkable live performances, and his profound mix of hip-hop, spoken word, jazz, soul, funk, poetry and African sounds.
His major-label albums "good kid, m.A.A.d city," ''To Pimp a Butterfly" and "DAMN." became works of art, with Lamar writing songs about blackness, street life, police brutality, perseverance, survival and self-worth.
His piercing raps helped him become the voice of the generation, and easily ascend as the leader in hip-hop and cross over to audiences outside of rap, from rock to pop to jazz.
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