Bob Dylan caused quite a stir when he picked up the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, but hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar has carved out his own slice of history by winning a prestigious award never-before granted to a contemporary music.

The Compton man won the Pulitzer Prize for Music - an award usually reserved for classical and jazz artists and first founded in 1943 - for his work on latest album 'DAMN.'

The judges praised the album for being a “virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life” and said that they had been led to consider the album after recognising the hip-hop influences of another unnamed artist. "Well if we’re considering a piece of music that has hip-hop influences, why aren’t we considering hip-hop?" said administrator Dana Cardery.
 

Lamar - who headlines this year's Electric Picnic festival - has not yet commented on the accolade. 'DAMN.' has already won a Grammy award for Best Rap Album and was also nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy.