Compton's own Kendrick Lamar received his Pulitzer Prize for music at a lavish ceremony in New York held at Columbia University.  

It has been a year since Damn. blessed our eardrums, but in that time it has become one of the year's most revered albums. Pulitzer Prize administrator Dana Canedy called Lamar's 2017 album Damn. a triumphant piece of art.

Lamar's third studio album was described 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” by Pulitzer judges. 

Started in 1943, the Pulitzer Prize has honored “a distinguished musical composition of significant dimension by an American” every year. Damn. is the first rap album to ever receive the award.

Typically, the award was given to a jazz or classical artist. K. Dot has broken a mold.

“It’s an honor,” Lamar said during his acceptance speech, after receiving a standing ovation “Been writing my whole life, so to get this type of recognition is beautiful.”

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