How Lenny Kravitz captured the “human” experience after 6 years away from music

It’s only natural that Lenny Kravitz, one in all music’s most legendary artists and entering his fourth decade in music, has seen and done all of it, got the jersey and earned enough stripes to inform the remainder of the world how he’s doing. However, at the age of 59, the rock star still feels he has loads to learn.

“I’m still a student,” Kravitz tells ESSENCE just before releasing his second feel-good single, “Man”

(*6*) he explained. “Many seniors think they know everything. “This is how it is,” and think, “I’m older, so I’ll tell you how to do it.” He had the opposite approach. So he was a very good teacher who showed me the importance of remaining a disciple all the time.”

Ever the student of life and his surroundings, Kravitz took the global Covid-19 pandemic – a time that effectively calmed the world – as a chance to reflect on the energy that sustained him through all the storms in his life, ultimately transferring it to what became his twelfth .studio album, .

As he prepares to return to the highlight after the pandemic – his 2020 was cut short by worldwide quarantine protocols – Kravitz is feeling higher than ever. Few artists, no matter genre, can maintain a way of relevance over the a long time like a rocker can. Consistently at the forefront of favor, at all times on the big and small screens, and together with his music serving as a continuing soundtrack to the lives of Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z rock fans, Kravitz has develop into much more obsessed with creating with each passing yr.

“I am more inspired than ever. I’m hungrier than ever. I still have a great desire for this life, for creating music and art. I really feel like I’m warming up,” says the rocker in an interview with ESSENCE, preparing for the performance upcoming world tour. “I feel like everything I’ve done over the last 35 years has been a great education that I can use now to push myself into the future.”

This energy led the songbird to create his latest work on his own in his home in the Bahamas for 2 and a half years, writing, recording and operating instruments himself, with the help of his long-time collaborator and guitarist Craig Ross. The album’s release scheduled for May 24 and her worldwide tour starting in late June mark the end of the longest hiatus in Kravitz’s illustrious profession.

“It’s just because of life. It’s not like I left or anything,” he says of his extended absence. “This is my biggest break between two releases, but everything is happening as it should and everything is great.”

And while he could have easily done that, it isn’t like Kravitz just lounged in the Bahamian breeze and casually made music for six years. In addition to pouring his energy into his latest work, he starred in the 2022 Amazon Original film starring Jennifer Lopez, wrote and performed “Road to Freedom” for the 2023 Netflix Original biopic starring Colman Domingo, and basks in of their rightful ways, from a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to a nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Yet while having fun with well-deserved recognition, Kravitz stays aware of the spaces into which he has yet to be welcomed. In an often misinterpreted statement that spread like wildfire November 2023 featurethe singer mentioned that he just isn’t “celebrated by people who run [Black] publications or organizations” despite being “a dream and an example of what a black artist can do.”

Although many on social media and in black journalistic circles initially thought he was being dismissive coverscoverage and praise he has received over the years from the Black press, Kravitz clarified that he was specifically referring to Black awards shows that had in some way consistently omitted his invitation as a Black artist working in the Black genre.

“My comment was intended to express my concern for Black artists being recognized for their work within what is currently called ‘non-traditional’ Black music, which it is not,” he wrote in an Instagram Stories post.

“I just wanted to sit at our table because I love our table,” Kravitz tells ESSENCE. “I come from this. I grew up among black pioneers who were in my mother’s friend group, and I am deeply rooted in our black culture.”

Bigger than personal invitations to the BET Awards, the mistake, in accordance with Kravitz, comes when our people have a look at genres like Rock & Roll and do not recognize it as the black music genre it has at all times been. As genres converge in an age of organic audiences and fame gained through independent uploads, and increased tinkering and musical experimentation by kids born in the ’90s, the singer sees hope for the future and more public light shed on a history that is usually neglected.

“Walls that were once difficult to climb are now just easier to climb to the other side, and I love that,” he says. “I love that Rock & Roll is part of the conversation and part of that connection because we have to own the things that we invented and pioneered.”

“There were times when, for instance, little black kids would stop me and ask, ‘Why are you making this white music?’ And then we would have to take a seat down and have an entire conversation about Chuck Berry and Little Richard and Fats Domino and Bo Diddley and Sister Rosetta Tharpe and so forth and so forth and so forth and make them understand where it got here from and that it’s black music.

“Everything is opening up,” he says about today’s music. “I like the way we speak about Beyoncé doing it now [for Country]. I mean, I remember my grandma telling me about country music once I was somewhat boy and telling me where it got here from. She told me, “These are all the songs and stuff I heard us singing in the fields,” and so forth. We need to grasp what we now have done and keep on with it.

“Music is for everybody. The music is colorless. That feeling. But let’s get the story.”

With his own music, Kravitz enriches the wealthy history of Rock & Roll with a message of affection, light and positivity. His latest project is an energizing expression of joy and radiating good vibes – a message that underlies Kravitz’s entire catalog.

“From now on, that’s what I’m doing,” Kravitz says of his album’s positive vibes. “I am here to strengthen love. I talk about it in different ways, but it’s my thing. I believe in love. It is the most powerful energy that exists and is the answer to everything if we only listen.”

“This music is… I’m just an antenna. I broadcast what I receive, so I don’t do it [even] doing this. It just comes through me and I accept what comes through me.”

His second single “Human” is an ideal example of this message. The song, placed at the very center of the album, reminds us methods to be ourselves on this impermanent life.

“When spring comes, it’s an anthem that you can just run out into the street and just start dancing. It just has that feeling,” Kravitz said. “It is a statement of celebrating this human experience that we have as spiritual beings and being authentic to who God created us to be.”

While that is definitely a sensible word to live by, Kravitz says it is also the secret to his longevity – physically, mentally and musically.

“Staying true to who I am, not following trends, just being myself and being authentic,” Kravitz says about his secret to constant success. With his sixtieth birthday looming on the horizon, coinciding with the release weekend of his latest album, the rocker is prepared for whatever comes next, and he hasn’t lost a step.

“I feel great where I am,” he says. “As human beings, we deal with age and what to do, at what age and when to stop, and so on. As for me, I’m here to say it doesn’t matter. You can be 30 years old and worn out and old, or you can be 80 years old and young and full of energy. It depends on you. I feel like I’m just getting started.”

As he prepares for fans to listen to his latest offering and as he prepares to hit the road and establish “communion with the people who bring your music to life,” Kravitz says he hopes that anyone who opens up and listens to his work will they’ll open their hearts to whatever personal message they get from it.

“Whatever it is, they get it [out of the music] – it’s not for me to say – but I hope they feel that spirit, love and positivity, that, as I say, they feel that feeling and just have fun with it,” Kravitz says about the message of his album. “We live in such a demanding world. We have to create our own fun. And for me this album was amazing. I don’t usually use this word, but it’s important that we have moments of fun and provide ourselves with relief and joy.”