Some quick thoughts about the Pulitzer

For people griping about Kendrick winning the Pulitzer: please have a listen to his previous record, “To Pimp A Butterfly”, which is, in this guy’s opinion, one of the great artworks of the 21st century. It’s collage, jazz, poetry, theater, and more; it’s confessional and yet sweeping in its outlook. “DAMN.”, by contrast, is a solid, if somewhat commercial hip-hop record; it feels to me much less musically ambitious than TPAB, and I don’t think it’s going to be the gateway for folks coming from a Eurocentric perspective. But it’s important to remember that the Pulitzer has a phenomenal record of overlooking great works, and then recognizing them retroactively by anointing a lesser piece by the same artist. (Reich passed over for “Music for 18 Musicians”, getting the prize for “Double Sextet”, etc…) Separately, I hear (and am sympathetic to) the argument that this prize could have gone to a PoC who’s making vernacular music with less commercial success than Kendrick, and yet I feel confident that many more of those artists will be submitting their work this year, now that they know that the prize *exists*. I would also say, as a songwriter, that “DAMN.” receiving the award opens the door to other artists, regardless of ethnicity, who are working, broadly speaking, in the medium of the album.

tl;dr: Unless you’re really upset that Steve Reich got the Pulitzer for “Double Sextet”, consider the possibility that Kendrick Lamar received this award for a body of work, and not just for this album.