On the heels of the release of his upcoming album, Lenny Kravitz is looking back on his career and where he felt the least amount of support.
Covering the latest issue of Esquire, Lenny opened up about how certain media outlets treated him, particularly the Black entertainment publications who didn’t seem to acknowledge him.
To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing,” Lenny told Esquire. “And it’s like, here is a Black artist who has reintroduced many Black art forms…”
who has broken down barriers—just like those that came before me broke down. That is positive. And they don’t have anything to say about it?”
And after a quick Getty Images search, the only “thing” to pop up related to Lenny and BET or Lenny and Soul Train, is a set of photos commemorating his appearance on BET’s 106 & Park back in 2013.
him sitting across from the 2 hosts of the show
Lenny also recalled Vibe, a popular music magazine highlighting hip-hop, R&B, and Black culture, waiting nearly a decade to feature him in their Who’s Who section, something they’d been doing since the magazine debuted in 1993.
Despite avoiding major controversy for the majority of his career and being, what he believes to be, a positive example in the music industry, Lenny didn’t understand why he wasn’t being recognized…
Lenny wearing a deep-v blouse with lots of layered necklaces and sunglasses
…or why his success “is not celebrated by the folks who run those publications or organizations. I have been that dream and example of what a Black artist can do.”
Lenny details more of his life and career in the full Esquire interview.
His new album Blue Electric Light is set to be released on March 15, 2024.
