The story that I wanna tell is pretty much about the way I grew up. Being bi-racial, growing up in a big city and being an artist.
Lenny KravitzThe loyalty rate isn't that high. I could have a big hit, then put out the next single, and they say, Oh yeah, who are you? Prove it again.
Lenny KravitzI think it'd be a real nightmare to put a record out and sell 20 million copies and then that's it.
Lenny KravitzI'm not one of those artists who refuses to play their hits. I find that ridiculous. Hits are a blessing.
Lenny KravitzIf you go to Japan, they're still buying vinyl, and they want the education. They know who's playing on what tracks from the '60s and the '70s - who the guitar player is, who the drummer is, who the producer was, what studio it was recorded in. That's how I grew up listening to music. We bought albums. We read the liner notes. It was important to know the whole history behind it.
Lenny KravitzWe should take time out to really love; we should take time out to find out who we are.
Lenny KravitzMy dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.
Lenny Kravitz(On being asked if he preferred to be a rock god or sex god) I am neither. My favourite role is father.
Lenny KravitzEventually you're going to have a digital transfer anyway when you make a CD, so it doesn't matter as long as what you're hitting first is what you want it to be.
Lenny KravitzNone of those material possessions do anything to make your life any better.... I know a lot of people who have a lot of everything, and they're absolutely the most miserable people in the world. So it won't do anything for you unless you're a happy person and can have peace with yourself.
Lenny KravitzToday, people are more into the glitz and the glamour of everything. We don't even read the inside of records anymore.
Lenny KravitzTo let go of the illusion that I'm in control is an important lesson, because I tend to be a person who likes to be in control, not only of my art but of my life and things around me, and it can be healthy up to a certain point, but at the end of the day, we have to go on faith and learn to let go and ride the wave.
Lenny KravitzYou've got your entourage and people that help you make whatever happen around you. Everything's crazy and you're not paying attention to your inner feelings because you're so busy. I couldn't take it.
Lenny KravitzI wasn't the kind of person that liked waiting for autographs or following them, I just liked to go to the shows, study their records, driving many, many hours to different states to go to concerts.
Lenny KravitzYou can't even sing or play an instrument, so you just scream instead. You're living for an image, so you got five hundred women in your bed.
Lenny KravitzI mean, look at the people we celebrate - a lot of people who really don't do anything. They just walk the red carpets and go to all the parties, and they're hooked up with the right people, so they're celebrities. But what for?
Lenny KravitzI don't like to approach people that much. There's been times when I wanted to say something to somebody, in a quick moment, but didn't. Then you think, man, who knows?
Lenny KravitzMy mother always told me to embrace both sides of my background. And she also taught me one very useful thing when I was going to first grade. She said, "You're Bahamian and African-American on one side, and Russian-Jewish on the other. You're no more one than the other, and it's beautiful that you have all this. It makes your life all the more rich. But society will see you only as black."
Lenny KravitzYou can start something, do it, and believe that that's what you're doing, but then the inspiration comes and it's like, "Nope, this is what it is."
Lenny KravitzI never sit down to write. When I'm moved, I do it. I just wait for it to come. You just hear it. I can't really describe writing. It's in my head.
Lenny KravitzIf you listen to a lot of old funk records, the drums are really small. But you don't perceive it like that because the groove is so heavy.
Lenny KravitzI come in with this rock 'n' roll-oriented music, and it's not black enough . . . I've always had to deal with this black-white thing.
Lenny KravitzWhen I make music, I play it, I produce it, I write it. It's a very self-centered thing, not in a negative way. But I primarily work by myself, that's my process. When I'm acting, I'm there to serve the director and the character. I'm here to give you what you need. Communicate that to me and I will do what I need to do to get that. So that's what it's about.
Lenny KravitzLife, the moment. Where the magic is. That's what really keeps me motivated, alive, hungry. I'm still as excited and motivated now as I was twenty-five years ago, and that's because I really live for those moments. And that's where the art comes from, that's where the music is born, that's where it all appears. I love it.
Lenny KravitzYou need to open up so that more comes through. And you can just feel that when your ego is not in the way and when you're letting it be what it wants to be. You have to let it be what it wants to be as opposed to what you think it should be.
Lenny KravitzWhen I was a kid and I bought a record, I ripped that thing open, I wanted to know who was playing what, what studio it was cut at, who was the string arranger, who was the engineer.
Lenny KravitzWe're getting so pulled in by computers and technology, and our kids have their face in the computers all day. The human relationship is being diminished by this.
Lenny KravitzI get a lot of joy from playing instruments, and I have a different personality on each instrument. I like to let that come out. I get kind of selfish.
Lenny KravitzI wanted to make something that sounded very pure, organic, and personal. I wanted to make music that was timeless.
Lenny KravitzI was in Paris last year, where there's a great appreciation of many different aspects of African culture and of black culture. The music... the art... whatever... And I kind of went with that.
Lenny KravitzAt 10 o'clock in the morning I'd go right in the studio. It feels good to be there in the morning before the day starts to mess with you - I don't mean in a negative way, but before I'd speak to a lot of people or get into anything, I'd go in there and just see what I felt. A lot happens in the morning for me in the studio.
Lenny KravitzThe thing I love about acting is that it's got nothing to do with me; it's about bringing forth a director's vision. It's like a release. I'm glad it's come back into my life.
Lenny KravitzI’ll be quite frank with you — I didn’t know about Hunger Games — so when I’m telling kids and they say, ‘Who are you playing?’ and I say Cinna, they go, ‘Oh you’re playing the gay guy.’ That was an actual answer. I’ve never brought that up yet. That’s how they perceived it. So I thought about it, and I read the book and I don’t see that he is or isn’t [gay]. He’s a designer, he’s a stylist, he has gold eyeliner—that doesn’t mean anything either way.
Lenny KravitzI'm experiencing the mood to go out and share the music. I don't look at these concerts as a platform for people to watch me, look at me. No, a tour is about an interaction. A thing, myself, a band, and the people who support what I do and enjoy what I do.
Lenny KravitzI really didn't know a lot of rock 'n' roll until I moved to L.A. Before that, when I was in New York, I grew up listening mostly to R&B and soul and jazz.
Lenny KravitzI feel like my best work is in front of me. I'm in the studio now, and I'm having an amazing time making this new album. It's something I can't help.
Lenny Kravitz