Music review: Lenny Kravitz – 鈥楤lack and White America鈥�
The ninth album from Lenny Kravitz draws upon his personal experiences from growing up with interracial parents in the 1960s. The title track details his parent’s union during a turbulent social time in our history. Drawing inspiration from their courage, Kravitz pours his contagious sense of optimism through his music declaring, “The future looks as though it has come around.” Not surprisingly, the album was to be originally called “Funk.” With a funky-soul pulse radiating straight out of the 1970s, it ideally describes the material’s target sound. Kravitz crafts a collection of intimately revealing lyrics reminiscent of classic Stevie Wonder. The smoothness that spills out of “Liquid Jesus,” features Kravitz channeling the sensual power of the late Marvin Gaye.
Collaborations with Jay Z and DJ Military on “Boongie Drop” and “Sunflower” with Drake will undoubtedly draw a lot of attention from radio and the press, but Kravitz has demonstrated time and time again that he’s a superstar that can hold his own when it comes to writing and performing memorable pieces of retro-sounding arrangements of faith, hope and love.
The robust construction of the 16 songs featured on “Black and White America” further cements Kravitz as one of the coolest artists in music today. From the inspiring spiritual message of “Push” and “Stand” to the guitar-driven “Everything” and “Rock Star City Life,” Kravitz sounds comfortable delivering a variety of styles into one complete package. As an added bonus, Kravitz takes me back to the days of “Strawberry Letter 23” from the Brothers Johnson with the smooth R&B soul of “Superlove.” In fact, it moved me to pull out an old vinyl copy of “Right on Time” from 1977, featuring “Runnin’ for Your Lovin'” and “Never Leave You Lonely.”聽 “You can take away my vision/That don’t mean that I can’t see,” sings Kravitz on the beautifully penned “Dream.”
It’s refreshing to experience the stylistic vision of hope and love contained within “Black and White America.”