" I have been that ambition of what a Black artist can do . "
On the heels of the release of his upcoming album,Lenny Kravitzis looking back on his career and where he felt the least amount of support.
Covering the latest issue ofEsquire, 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 toldEsquire. “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’s106 & Parkback in 2013.
Lenny also recalledVibe, a popular music magazine highlighting hip-hop, R&B, and Black culture, waiting nearly a decade to feature him in theirWho’s Whosection, 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…
…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 fullEsquireinterview.
His new albumBlue Electric Lightis pose to be released on March 15 , 2024 .
