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Lamar, 30, won the Pulitzer for his 2017 album
"DAMN." and was also the first music winner in the 100-year
history of the Pulitzers to come from outside of the world of
classical or jazz.
Rap officially surpassed rock in 2017 as the biggest music genre
in the United States.
Lamar's fusion of jazz, poetry and blues with social themes and
love songs has made him one of the most innovative rappers of
his generation.
The Pulitzer board on Monday hailed "DAMN.," which was released
in April 2017, 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."
Previous Pulitzer music winners include jazz musicians Wynton
Marsalis and Ornette Coleman.
"DAMN.," Lamar's fourth album deals with religion, love,
personal struggles and racial politics. It topped the Billboard
200 album charts for three weeks on its release last year and
powered Lamar to five wins at the Grammy Awards in New York in
January.
But the album failed to win the top Grammy prize - album of the
year - in what was seen as a snub by music industry voters for
the rap genre despite its rising popularity.
Only two hip-hop albums have ever won the Grammy for album of
the year: Lauryn Hill's "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" in
1999 and Outkast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" in 2004.
Lamar was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton,
the home of hip-hop pioneers NWA, and started making music as a
16-year-old.
He also produced the soundtrack for the 2018 superhero
box-office hit film "Black Panther," and performed the lead
single "Pray For Me" with The Weeknd.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Leslie Adler and
Jonathan Oatis)
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