Kendrick Lamar Wins The Pulitzer

On April 16th, 2018, Kendrick Lamar has become the first rapper and artist outside the Jazz and Classical Music genre to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. DAMN, is personally my favorite album to come from the Kendrick Lamar canon. Every song on the album is poetry and is able to transcend that fine line between artistic merit and commercial appeal. Most importantly, it's an honest and current observation of African American life in the United States during what we are now recognizing as a controversial time period. 

The committee's decision is not only agreeable, it's important. To choose DAMN is to choose an idea of progress in music and in our culture. The decision is indicative of the fact that we are able to move away from a narrow mindset of what constitutes as music, or what constitutes as a proper medium, to express and evoke imperative and palpable themes and ideas. 

This decision reiterates the fact that we do not need to constantly look into the past for answers or to continue a tired way of living. Life is ever-changing; we are always dealing with new problems, concerns and ideas that cannot be solved with the same solutions of older generations because they're not compatible. To repeat the past is a crime to our humanity; a species able to survive due to our ability to adapt to new environments. Unfortunately, with the decisions and emphasis on making "America Great Again," the government is re-enforcing ideals and themes that were not great at all. Racism, sexism, environmental neglect, economic implosions and making decisions with only the benefit of the upper class is what empowers that slogan and it's DAMN that'd exposing this notion through a medium we all enjoy: music.

DAMN is addressing these political insinuations while also commentating on the effects that it has on Kendrick personally in a vernacular understood by all and enjoyed by all. We are able to put ourselves in Kendrick's shoes as he guides us along these travesties that are not talked about. Yes, the messages affect our political and racial perspectives, but it also has an impact on us emotionally to where we can connect with Kendrick and his depression in dealing and seeing these injustices on a daily basis.

To award DAMN with this honor is not to give Kendrick bragging rights, or another accolade. It is to foreword the idea that progress cannot be thwarted. Existing issues are something that must be dealt with, addressed and rectified otherwise we have failed as a people. So thank you, Pulitzer for making one of the most important decisions not just for music, but for our culture today.