The Latest: Kendrick Lamar the 1st rapper to win Pulitzer

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the Pulitzer Prizes (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. It’s the first non-classical or jazz work to win the award.

The Pulitzer board on Monday called the album a work that captures the complexity of African-American life.

Lamar has been praised and lauded for his deep lyrical content, remarkable live performances, and his profound mix of hip-hop, spoken word, jazz, soul, funk, poetry and African sounds.

His major-label albums “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” ”To Pimp a Butterfly” and “DAMN.” became works of art, with Lamar writing songs about blackness, street life, police brutality, perseverance, survival and self-worth.

His piercing raps helped him become the voice of the generation, and easily ascend as the leader in hip-hop and cross over to audiences outside of rap, from rock to pop to jazz.

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3:05 p.m.

The New York Times and The Washington Post have won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for illuminating the ongoing investigation into possible contacts between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian officials.

American journalism’s most prestigious awards were announced Monday at Columbia University.

A string of stories in the two newspapers shined light on connections between Russian officials and Trump’s 2016 campaign. The ties fueled Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into alleged Russian attempts to influence the presidential election.

The Republican president calls the investigation a “witch hunt.”

The New York Times and the New Yorker won the public service prize for sexual misconduct reporting that galvanized the #MeToo movement.

The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, California, won the breaking news award for coverage of the wildfires that swept through California’s wine country last fall.

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3:05 p.m.

The New York Times and The New Yorker have won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for their reporting on Harvey Weinstein and sexual misconduct that galvanized the #MeToo movement.

American journalism’s most prestigious awards are being announced Monday at Columbia University.

In stories that appeared within days of each other in October, The Times and The New Yorker reported that Weinstein had faced allegations of sexual harassment and assault from multiple women in Hollywood going back decades. The movie producer’s attorneys have said he denies any non-consensual sexual contact with anyone.

The stories’ impact soon spread beyond Weinstein to allegations against other prominent men. And the #MeToo hashtag quickly became rallying cry for people to speak out about their own experiences of sexual harassment and assault.

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Midnight

The winners of the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism and the arts are set to be announced in New York City.

The winners are being revealed Monday afternoon at Columbia University.

The Pulitzer Prizes recognize the best journalism of 2017 in newspapers, magazines and websites. There are 14 categories for reporting, photography, criticism and commentary.

In the arts, prizes are awarded in seven categories, including fiction, drama and music.

The first journalism prizes were awarded in 1917, including one to the New York Tribune for an editorial on the first anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania. That year, two daughters of abolitionist Julia Ward Howe won for a biography of their mother — at a time when women couldn’t vote and the literary world was dominated by men.

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