musical composition of alright by kendrick lamar

It challenges the arts establishment around the world to fully embrace the cultural significance of contemporary music.Īrts Council England could learn a great deal from the Pulitzer’s and the process behind them. Kendrick Lamar’s achievement is significant not only for hip-hop, or for black music, but for contemporary music as a whole. Only last week, the debate surrounding Arts Council funding in the UK contrasting the attitudes afforded to opera and classical at the expense of other genres, illustrates how far contemporary music still has to go in winning over the arts establishment in the UK. These gentlemen are masters of their art, but it took them years to reach that level of acceptance by the American arts establishment. In recent years, a handful of jazz artists have won the award, first Wynton Marsalis in 1997, then Ornette Coleman in 2007 and Henry Threadgill in 2016. The overwhelming majority of recipients are classical. Perhaps this serves as a challenge to The Recording Academy to go further and do better as it considers options for 2019?īob Dylan, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, have all won many plaudits over the years as authentic and significant American artists and storytellers, but none have won a Pulitzer Prize for Music. In winning the Pulitzer Prize, Lamar has leapfrogged the Grammys in recognition. Beyoncé has made the shortlist three times, culminating with her greatest work yet, Lemonade, leaving her empty handed again last year prompting many to ask, what has the lady got to do to win Best Album? Childish Gambino and Jay-Z also made the shortlist but they all lost out to Bruno Mars. At a time when black music has reached new artistic heights and cultural resonance coupled with poor female representation, The Recording Academy has been blasted for being out of touch.ĭAMN was actually shortlisted for Best Album at this year’s Grammys, Lamar’s third nomination for the award. Lauryn Hill and OutKast have won Album of the Year in the past, but in recent years no black artist has won the accolade. The last black artist to win Album of the Year at the Grammys was Herbie Hancock in 2008. It sets a significant marker for the music industry itself. Twenty-five years later a 30-year-old rapper from Compton is being feted by the establishment, hopefully signaling a new level of acceptance. The significance for hip-hop and black musicĪs Jasmine Dotiwala pointed out on Sky News, in the early ‘90s the US government tried to shut down the likes of NWA, Ice T and Snoop Doggy Dogg. The significance of this moment cannot be understated and had many layers relevant to all of us in the music industry and in a number of ways. His award made headline news here in the UK, prompting widespread comment. The attention heaped upon Pulitzer Prize winning rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar has been truly global.

The award itself comes with little fanfare, no red carpet sizzle, but, rather, the recipient will forever be known as the “ Pulitzer Prize winning author/journalist/ poet/ composer/ etc”. The music category recognizes “distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year.”

The Pulitzer is a name with overwhelming gravitas, commonly associated with American journalism, poetry and literature. The Pulitzer Prize was launched in 1917 and the first Pulitzer Prize for Music was awarded in 1943. Kendrick Lamar is the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. This article first appeared in Record of the Day.ĭAMN. Andy Edwards explores what having a Pulitzer Prize winning rapper means for the music industry and the arts landscape as a whole.

Musical composition of alright by kendrick lamar