Lenny Kravitz has clarified recent comments he made about not always feeling “celebrated” by the people who run Black publications and media organizations.
The rock star wrote in a statement on Monday that he wanted to “set the record straight.”
“My Black musical heritage means a lot to me, and I owe my success to my supporters who have taken this journey with me over the span of my career,” said the statement, which was shared on X (formerly Twitter). “The comment I made was not about ‘Black media’ or the ‘Black community.’ I was specifically referring to Black award shows in particular.”
Kravitz told Esquire in a profile published last week that he had yet to be invited to “a BET thing or a Source Awards thing.”
“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,” he said. “And they don’t have anything to say about it?”
He later said he didn’t understand 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.”
Kravitz said elsewhere in his statement on Monday that his remarks in Esquire were meant to “express a concern about ensuring that Black artists are being recognized for their work in what is now being called ‘non-traditional’ Black music, which it is not.”
He said that rock music is a part of Black history and that Black communities “must retain our heritage and celebrate that together.”
“BET and countless others have paved the way for this type of recognition,” he added. “I hope that by sharing my concern a spotlight will be shone on this issue.”
Kravitz’s remarks in Esquire sparked conversation on social media, including some pushback from writers and journalists who work for Black media outlets.
Author and journalist Michael Harriot wrote in an opinion piece for The Grio that he believes Kravitz would absolutely be welcomed at shows dedicated to celebrating Black artists and culture.
“Having worked in Black media for most of my career, I can assure you that there is not a single Black-centric outlet that would reject Kravitz if he wanted to appear at one of these celebrations,” Harriot said. “Most Black publications would kill for an exclusive interview with someone like Kravitz. Most of the platforms he references have published stories on the Black origins of rock and roll. I know because I have written some of them.”
Kravitz is set to release his “Blue Electric Light” album in March. The Blue Electric Light Tour is set to kick off in Hamburg, Germany, in June.