because Lenny is black there's an expectation he should have a larger black following. Lenny does have
many black fans, but by the looks of his concerts you wouldn't believe it. In my opinion it's not that Lenny
is making music for whites, it's just that maybe his music is too hippie to be hip-hop, too funky to be R&B
soul, and too "white" to be "black." When you get to hear my Lenny Kravitz music selection, hopefully
you will realize that Lenny does more than just rock music. His songs are very eclectic. One reason why I
think Lenny has yet to establish a larger black fan base is due to the fact his main song releases were
all rock songs equip with loud rocking guitar solos. If you only hear Lenny's rock songs like "Fly Away,"
"Are You Gonna Go My Way," and "American Woman," on the radio, obviously you are not going to
know that Lenny writes beautiful soul-styled love songs, and has many other songs that would fit in well
on black R&B radio stations if these stations would broaden their perspective of what black music is.
The flip side to this theory is that maybe Lenny as well as his management is more confident in the
success of his rock songs than his other album tracks because rock music is appeals to a more
broader audience.
From looking back on Lenny's career in the past few years, it seems to me that Lenny is trying to
break out of his rock music shell by playing the guitar on rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce's "03 Bonnie
& Clyde" song, singing on Jay-Z's song "Guns & Roses," playing the guitar and singing on the hip hop
track "Show Me Your Soul," a song with P.Diddy, and Pharell Williams, as well as having a cameo in
Pharell's "Frontin'" music video. Lenny even had his first guest rapper, Jay-Z, appear on his song
"Storm" on his last album, Baptism.
I don't know what direction Lenny's career is headed in, but hopefully whatever he does will allow
people to see and hear why he is an original artist, and why people shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.
Tan text comes from Shalondra's Thoughts 2005
