Kendrick Lamar officially had the chillest reaction to his historic Pulitzer Prize win
It’s been a big year for Kendrick Lamar. The rapper kicked off 2018 by producing the soundtrack for Black Panther. And in February, his latest album, DAMN., went on to win the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Now, he has one more accolade under his belt. On April 16th, Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize (yes, we’re squealing, too). And so far, Lamar’s public reaction to the huge honor has been understated.
After losing Album of the Year at the 2018 Grammys, Lamar’s DAMN. was honored with the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music yesterday. And his win is historic: Before, only jazz and classical musicians had received the Pulitzer Prize for Music. The Pulitzer committee described the album 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.”
Despite this high-profile and historic honor, Lamar has been mostly quiet about his win on social media. He didn’t share any posts about the honor on Twitter, and his official Facebook page shared the announcement with a simple caption that read “#DAMN. #TDE Pulitzer Prizes.”
Top Dawg Entertainment, Lamar’s record label, celebrated the victory by tweeting the lyrics to one of Lamar’s songs, “The Heart, Pt. 3 (Will You Let it Die).”
"'I came, I saw, I conquered / No shame, I blame all of this on Compton,'" the recording studio's official Twitter account captioned the announcement. "#DAMN. #TDE #HiiiPoWeR #Pulitzer #PulitzerPrize."
“I came, I saw, I conquered
No shame, I blame all of this on Compton” #DAMN. #TDE #HiiiPoWeR #Pulitzer #PulitzerPrize pic.twitter.com/hVCpwxQaEi— TOP DAWG ENT (@TopDawgEnt) April 16, 2018
Fans were ecstatic to see Lamar’s name on the list of Pulitzer winners.
So #KendrickLamar wasn’t good enough to win #AlbumOfTheYear at the #Grammys but somehow, he just picked up a #PulitzerPrize for the same work. “ #Damn,” indeed! @kendricklamar @PulitzerPrizes
— Dave Jordan (@DJNYC1) April 16, 2018
.@KendrickLamar is the first person to win a #Pulitzer for rap. Yep. That feels about right. Incredible.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) April 17, 2018
I feel good about a world in which Kendrick Lamar has a Pulitzer Prize.
— alexwagner (@alexwagner) April 17, 2018
Perspective: Kendrick Lamar deserves his Pulitzer. Rap is the most significant music of our time. https://t.co/wW3IXFxtuW
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 17, 2018
false
can kendrick get the PEGOT
— Steve Kandell (@SteveKandell) April 16, 2018
Some celebrated the significance of Lamar’s win for the black community.
Congratulations to @kendricklamar as the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize. @PulitzerPrizes only confer a literary legitimacy that FOLLOWS the street credibility and artistic authority ALREADY conferred by the Black community. @EBONYMag @Essence @Variety @Blavity @TeenVogue pic.twitter.com/f2IZIvbhUd
— Rev. & Prof. Cornell William Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) April 17, 2018
Beyoncé had Coachella renamed after her, Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize, & Black Panther has made more money than Titanic.
Black history month is every month, every day, every year, all the time.
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 16, 2018
Lamar’s reaction to his Pulitzer Prize win may have been understated, but this is a monumental victory. Congratulations to Lamar and his recording team. DAMN!
