Rapper Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer Prize

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The Guardian - The most famous names of American journalism were honoured on Monday with Pulitzer prizes for investigating Donald Trump and exposing endemic sexual harassment in Hollywood.

And in a dramatic cultural breakthough, 30-year-old rapper Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer for music in a category long reserved for classical works.

The New York Times and New Yorker were jointly awarded the Pulitzer prize for public service on Monday for investigating accusations of sexual harassment and assault made against one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein.

Reports on the allegations, which Weinstein has denied, led to a cascade of accusations and admissions of sexual misconduct in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, politics and beyond as the #MeToo movement made 2017 a year of reckoning for powerful men.

The Times also shared the national reporting Pulitzer with rival the Washington Post, in recognition of each newspaper's dedicated coverage of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election.

But in a year when the media has been galvanised by digging into Trump's chaotic presidency, Lamar's award for his album Damn also stood out as the rapper from Compton, California became the first rap artist to win a Pulitzer in music. It is the first piece of popular music to receive the music award since it was introduced in 1943.

The music award was the last to be announced at the Pulitzer prize ceremony on Monday afternoon at Columbia University in New York City. Pulitzer administrator Dana Canedy, the first woman and person of color to announce the award, smiled while reading Lamar's name.

Before announcing the journalism winners, Canedy explained why these works were selected: "Their...

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