Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer win hailed as ‘big for music’

NEW YORK (AP) — One of the jurors who picked Kendrick Lamar’s album to be a Pulitzer Price finalist says the decision was unanimous and not divisive.

Columbia professor Farah Jasmine Griffin says the five-person jury welcomed the chance to evaluate “DAMN.” and have “a serious conversation about the art.”

The five-member music jury listened to about 180 pieces of music and after deliberating for a few days then submitted to the final board three works — Lamar’s album along with Michael Gilbertson’s “Quartet” and Ted Hearne’s “Sound from the Bench.”

Adding “DAMN.” was a unanimous decision by all five.