𝗜𝗡𝗧. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺 – 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗮 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 – 𝗗𝗮𝘆 – 𝗡𝗬𝗖 (𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴)

𝗜𝗡𝗧. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺 – 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗮 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 – 𝗗𝗮𝘆 – 𝗡𝗬𝗖 (𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴)

KENDRICK LAMAR sits in a seat next to his FRIEND, awaiting his acceptance of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his record DAMN.

FRIEND – “Dude, can’t believe we’re here, doing this!?”

LAMAR – “I felt good about Damn.”

FRIEND – “Yeah, but damn.”

They chuckle.

FRIEND – “Look, in the program, says you’re the first non-classical or jazz artist to receive the honor.”

LAMAR – “Won’t be the last, we in now.”

ANNOUNCER holds the microphone on stage.

ANNOUNCER – “And the Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album, DAMN, goes to Kendrick Lamar.”

Applause erupts.

The first time the award went to a musical work outside the genres of classical music and jazz, a watershed moment for the Pulitzers and Lamar, and a sign of the American cultural elite’s recognition of hip-hop as a legitimate artistic medium.

The Pulitzer committee called DAMN a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African American life.

Ted Hearne, a composer who was nominated alongside Lamar, called him “one of the greatest living American composers, for sure.”

Go change the game.

#onthisdayinhistory