Mark Coles looks at the life and work of Kendrick Lamar who this month won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first non-classical or jazz musician to win the award. The Pulitzer board praised the way Kendrick captures modern American life. The award was described as a huge moment for hip hop. Over the past few years Kendrick has dominated the charts but he is gaining as much attention for his politics, writing songs about race, street life, police brutality, perseverance, survival and self-worth. Songs like Alright and The Blacker the Berry, have become anthems in the wake of high-profile police shootings of minorities in the United States.

(Photo: Kendrick Lamar receives the Grammy for the Best Rap Album with DAMN, 2018. Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP) Show less