Lenny Kravitz Questions Why He’s ‘Not Celebrated’ By Black Media
Lenny Kravitz is opening up in the winter issue of Esquire magazine about the lack of flowers he’s received from Black media despite his trailblazing success in music.
Described as a rock, neo-psychedelia, and progressive soul artist, Kravitz has been highly celebrated for his unique fusion of rock, funk, and R&B. But despite setting the record for most consecutive Grammy wins in one category by a male performer, Kravitz still questions why he’s rarely been recognized in Black spaces.
He found mainstream success in the early 90s with his first Top 40 album “Mama Said” which featured the chart-topping single “It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over.” But Kravitz says it still took nearly a decade into his career for Vibe magazine to honor him with a cover.
“To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing,” he said.
“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?”
His absence in Black media and award shows led him to question why his success wasn’t “celebrated by the folks who run those publications or organizations.”
Born May 26, 1964, as the only child of NBC television news producer Sy Kravitz and actress Roxie Roker, Kravitz biracial background consists of African-American and Bahamian descent from his late mother and Russian-Jewish origin from his late father. Kravitz has been open about the racism he and his parents experienced growing up in a mixed-race household.
Yet, he imagined his success in music would be embraced by the Black community like his predecessors who inspired him.
“I have been that dream and example of what a Black artist can do,” Kravitz said.
It wasn’t just the Black media who would shun the “Fly Away” singer. Kravitz recalls feelings of being underestimated by white media outlets during his rise to the top.
“There was this one article that, at that time, said, ‘If Lenny Kravitz were white, he would be the next savior of rock ’n’ roll,’” he shared. “I got a lot of negativity thrown at me by all these older white men who weren’t going to let me have that position.”
In the end, Kravitz says he’s “not here for the accolades.”
“I’m here for the experience,” he said.
To date, Kravitz has four Grammy awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, which he received four years in a row from 1999 to 2002, American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, Brit Awards, and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
He has a single nomination from the BET Soul Train Awards in 2018 for the Soul Train certified award and has been nominated for his film roles, People reports. He also won an NAACP Image Award for outstanding supporting actor in a motion-picture in 2010 and 2013 for “Precious” and “The Hunger Games” along with two Black Reel Awards including best supporting actor for “Precious” in 2010 and outstanding song for The Butler’s “You and I Ain’t No More” in 2014.
His genre-bending style of music was ahead of its time but can now be seen regularly through artists like Andre 3000, Childish Gambino, Tyler The Creator, Pharrell Williams, and more. Kravitz is set to release his 12th studio album “Blue Electric Light” in March 2024 which will hopefully garner him some nominations at Black award shows.
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