Kendrick Lamar is no stranger to awards. Why the rapper's latest win is historic

Winning awards is nothing new to Kendrick Lamar. The Compton-based rapper has received several accolades in his career, including 12 Grammy Awards.

On Monday, he made history.

Lamar, 30, won the Pulitzer Prize for music, making it the first non-jazz or classical work to take the honor.

According to The Pulitzer Prizes website, Lamar's album "DAMN." is "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 album was selected over Michael Gilbertson's "Quartet" and Ted Hearne's "Sound from the Bench."

Lamar, who performed at Golden 1 Center last year, will receive $15,000 for the Pulitzer honor. The prize is given "for distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year," according to a release from The Pulitzer Prizes.

Last year's winner in music was Du Yun's opera "Angel's Bone."

Lamar's honor was one of 21 Pulitzers awarded Monday, including coverage by The New York Times and The New Yorker of sexual harassment and abuse in politics and entertainment, and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's work on the wildfires that ravaged the area in October. See the full list here.

This story was originally published April 16, 2018 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Kendrick Lamar is no stranger to awards. Why the rapper's latest win is historic."