What did Kendrick Lamar win a Pulitzer Prize for? Rapper's iconic feat revisited in wake of ongoing rap feud with Drake 

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Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album DAMN (Image via Getty Images)

Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap beef has left netizens captivated in recent weeks. As the duo continued to fight it out with diss tracks being fired at each other, it is worth noting that Drake mocked Kendrick for being a Pulitzer Prize winner in The Heart Part 6. Kendrick received the prestigious accolade in April 2018 for his 2017 album, DAMN. At the time of writing this article, Drizzy was the last to drop, with fans now awaiting K. Dot’s response to the same.

In Drake’s The Heart Part 6, he doubled down on dissing Kendrick while mentioning the Pulitzer Lamar has won.

“The Pulitzer Prize winner is definitely spiralin’/ I got your f**king lines tapped, I swear that I’m dialed in/ First, I was a rat, so where’s the proof of the trial then?/ Where’s the paperwork or the cabinet it’s filed in?”

In Drake’s rhymes, he was referring to Kendrick's claims of Drake snitching on the men who robbed him in Toronto in 2010. Drake tells Kendrick he had his “lines tapped.” Drizzy uses wordplay to say that he was “dialed in.”

Drizzy then asks Kendrick to show proof of his cooperation with law enforcement, which goes against the popular unofficial rule of hip-hop.

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Why did Kendrick Lamar win a Pulitzer Prize? Everything to know about DAMN

The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of the most distinguished awards in the country. The accolade, which was introduced in 1943, recognizes:

“A distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance in the United States during the year.”

The Pulitzer Committee chose Kendrick Lamar for his DAMN album in 2018, making it a “big moment for hip-hop music and a big moment for the Pulitzers,” as per Administrator Dana Candey. Candey also 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.”

DAMN was Kendrick Lamar’s fourth studio album, which features many guest appearances from Zacari, U2, and Rihanna. Along with receiving a Pulitzer for the album, he also received four Grammy nominations, including winning Best Rap Album. Top Dawg, Aftermath, and Interscope released the album, and it was certified as ‘Gold’ by the RIAA.

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Kendrick Lamar was presented the Pulitzer Award by the now-former Columbia University president, Lee Bollinger. He also became the first musician to receive the award for winning the award for a piece of work that was not jazz or classical music.

Kendrick also met former president Barack Obama at the White House, who once revealed that his favorite song was Lamar's How Much a Dollar Cost, from the To Pimp a Butterfly album.

Obama’s senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, also told press outlets that the former president asked Kendrick Lamar, “Can you believe that we’re both sitting in the Oval Office?” during their meeting, implying the significance of two Black men occupying a space that was previously considered out of reach purely because of their ethnicity.


Kendrick Lamar has released four Drake diss tracks- Euphoria, meet the grahams, 6:16 in LA, and Not Like Us.

Drake has also released four diss tracks towards Kendrick- Push Ups, Taylor Made Freestyle, Family Matters, and The Heart Part 6.

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Edited by Pradyot Hegde
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