Lenny Kravitz is clarifying his statement regarding comments he made last week about feeling excluded from Black media events.
On Monday, the musician took to Twitter with a statement that read:
“It is important to me to set the record straight on recent media reports based on an interview I did,” he wrote. “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. The comment I made was not about ‘black media’ or the ‘black community.’ I was specifically referring to black award shows in particular.”
“My comment was 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 continued. “Rock and roll is the music we were instrumental in creating and is a part of our history. We must retain our heritage and celebrate that together.”
“BET and countless others have paved the way for this type of recognition,” Kravitz wrote. “I hope that by sharing my concern a spotlight will be shone on this issue. Love and peace.”
The statement comes a week after Kravitz had an interview with Esquire magazine, saying, “To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing,” he said. “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?”
