Back in April, it was announced that Kendrick Lamar would receive a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album, DAMN. Becoming the first hip hop artist to receive the honor, the Pulitzer Prize — which honors excellence in journalism and the arts — hailed Dot’s fourth studio 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.”
The official ceremony went down today (May 30th), and while Kenny was the proverbial belle of the ball there were many other recipients as well, most notably Ronan Farrow. The son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, Farrow wrote the incendiary New Yorker article which set off the ultimate downfall of Harvey Weinstein and led the way for the #MeToo movement.
Other recipients included journalists Clare Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato of Reuters, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah (who wrote the incredibly in-depth piece on murderer Dylann Roof), and author Martyna Majok.
Most excitement at Pulitzer ceremony is for Kendrick Lamar’s entrance pic.twitter.com/wOQUQBfj2E
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) May 30, 2018
.@kendricklamar is in the building. “We’re both making history,” #Pulitzer Administrator @DanaCanedy told the Pulitzer music award-winner as he entered today’s prize luncheon. pic.twitter.com/Tg3cMQiLOH
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) May 30, 2018
The ceremony was live-streamed today (May 30th), and can be watched below.