Rapper Kendrick Lamar became the first rap artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018 for his fourth studio album, “DAMN.” At just 34 years old, Lamar has already earned 13 Grammys
Beyoncé got her start as a teenager in Destiny’s Child, which in its own right was one of the best-selling girl groups in American history. She forged out on her own with “Dangerously in Love” in 2003.
The stunning, award-speckled rise of Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) over his decades-long career began with his independently released “Reasonable Doubt” in 1996
Tupac Shakur was the first hip-hop artist to record a double album and, in 2017, he posthumously became the first solo rapper to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.