Lenny Kravitz: Black And White America versie op CD in standaard editie. Deze specifieke uitgave werd uitgebracht in Europa bij uitgeverij Roadrunner Records op 22. augustus 2011.

"Black And White America" ist ein Rock und Funk beeinflusstes Album, gespickt mit Lennys typischem Gitarrensound, seinen Melodien und seinen unverwechselbaren Texten, die im Laufe seiner 20-jährigen Karriere zu seinem Markenzeichen wurden. Das Album wurde auf den Bahamas und in Paris aufgenommen. Multiinstrumentalista Kravitz hat das Album produziert, geschrieben und alle 16 Songs selbst arrangiert. Bekannt als einer der besten Rockmusiker unserer Zeit, hat Lenny Kravitz in seiner musikalischen Karriere sämtliche Genregrenzen überschritten, stetig beeinflusst vom Soul, Rock und Funk der 60er und 70er Jahre. In der Zeit von 1999 bis 2002 hat er 4 Grammy Awards gewonnen und damit einen Rekord für die meisten Auszeichnungen in der Kategorie "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance", zuletzt für seine Single " Dig In" (zuvor für " Again", "American Woman" und "Fly Away") aufgestellt. " Playing the new music live will be really inspiring ," sagt Kravitz . " I have an amazing band, including a complete horn section and singers. We're going to go hard ," sagt er mit einem Lächeln. "Black And White America" repräsentiert einen neuen Höhepunkt in Kravitz ' musikalischer Karriere. " I think it's the best work I've done so far ," he says. " It's a great balance of where I've been, where I am and where I'm going." Product information For his ninth album, Lenny Kravitz found a lot of inspiration close to home. Indeed, the very spirit of BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA comes from the places where the music was made - from a small community of four hundred in the Bahamas to the streets of Paris. And his experience as a true citizen of the planet has made his first new songs in three years the most personal and diverse collection of his career. "There's no doubt that my environment definitely contributes a lot to the creative process," he says. Kravitz has repeatedly shown what that process can do. He's been making records for over twenty years, since his breakthrough 1989 debut LET LOVE RULE. In that time, he has sold over 35 million albums and won four Grammy Awards. But despite these dazzling achievements - or perhaps because of them - the singer's home on the islands has remained a vital part of his life as a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. "It's such a beautiful, isolated place," Kravitz says, "and it's a really great, basic existence. You eat from the garden and the sea, you don't have shoes or keys and you know everybody, and you don't walk past anybody without acknowledging them." While the island, home to his mother's family, has long been a familiar haven for Kravitz, in the past year he has come to embrace the place in a new way. Fortunately, a new level of comfort and clarity in his music has resulted. "I used to daydream a lot about this music when I slept in the RV on the beach," he says. One morning, he recalls, he "just woke up, ran into the studio and this thing came out" - and it turned out to be the raucous funk groove of "Life Ain't Ever Been Better Than It Is Now." On the soaring piano ballad "Dream", he sings: "No one can take the dream from your heart". Not that the entirety of BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA - his first album released on Atlantic Records/Roadrunner Records and the follow-up to 2008's IT IS TIME FOR A LOVE REVOLUTION, which marked Kravitz's highest-ever debut on the album charts - was as mystical as these experiences. In other songs, he drew on his year-long sojourn in a remote city in a more earthy way. "There's a little place down the road from where I live where you can eat, and there's a DJ playing at night," he says. "I've been there to see Bahamian women dancing. Most of them happen to be very full-figured ladies and they are very proud of their bodies. They wear shorter shorts, bold colours and it's really encouraging to see that they don't believe the stereotypes of what the media says is beautiful." Inspired by these women, Kravitz came up with "Boongie Drop," a simmering spacey shred with a grinding, nighttime groove ("In the Bahamas, 'boongie' is the word for 'ass,' so I just stuck to the culture," he explains). Jay-Z, who has collaborated with Kravitz on several songs over the years, jumps into the track with some quick, island rhymes, while DJ Military, a real DJ in the club and an old friend of Kravitz's, gets his own opportunity to kick off the track. In addition to his collaboration with Jay-Z, Kravitz also joined forces with rapper Drake and Swizz Beatz on the track "Sunflower." BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA gained another layer when Kravitz moved his base of operations to Paris. "After being in the bush for so long, it was really interesting to hear this music in the city when I was driving around," he says. "The approach changed when I heard it in an urban setting." In Paris, he began mixing and doing much of the synth reworking. It was also there that he wrote the "really sensual, very minimal" track "Liquid Jesus," which brought a sleeker, more sophisticated vibe to the sound. "A lot of this record seems to be influenced by what I listened to in high school and middle school," Kravitz says. "Soul, R&B, bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, Quincy Jones' production as Brothers Johnson - those were records that taught me a lot about producing and arranging music." The album includes standout tracks like "Push," "Super Love" and "Come On Get It." But the album's title track may get the most attention. Accompanied by a springy, super-funky bass line, Kravitz sings: "There's no division... the future looks like it's coming around". BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA was made in response to a documentary Kravitz saw about racism in the United States post-Obama. Amid the song's challenging lyrics, the songwriter references his own family history and his parents' experiences as an interracial couple in the 1960s. "People yelled obscenities and spit on them," he says, "and that was in New York, not the South. So it's about me personally and the situation with race in this country. We may be starting to move on, but there are still a lot of people who want to hold on to their old ideas." Though the sonic emphasis on BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA may lie squarely in funk, the writer of guitar-driven hits like "Fly Away" and "Are You Gonna Go My Way" hasn't turned his back on rock. Songs like "Rock Star City Life" and the first single "Stand" give the album a good dose of screeching riffs. "This album is a celebration," he offers. "Everyone who listens to it will feel it and be uplifted by the spirit of the music." BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA exudes overwhelming emotion, optimism, faith and hope. Kravitz admits that in today's tumultuous times, it's hard to maintain those sentiments. "This world is a challenging place," he says. "What's interesting is the dynamic where you can find inner peace in the midst of chaos. I choose to remain optimistic, even in the face of negativity and destruction." After such a long period of creative closure, Kravitz can't wait to hit the road with BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA. First up will be a handful of stadium shows supporting U2, followed by a long international tour of stadiums, arenas and theaters. "Playing new music live will be really inspiring," says Kravitz. "I have an amazing band, including a full horn section and singers. We're going to go hard," he says with a laugh. For Lenny Kravitz, BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA represents a new high point in the scope and focus of his music. "I think it's the best work I've done to date," he says. "It's a great balance of where I've been, where I am and where I'm going." (lennykravitz. com) Rezensionen ,,Dazu faucht oder schwärmt er von Jesus und Rockstars, Liebe und Frieden, Sonnenblumen und Träumen, Glaube und Hoffnung, und fertig ist der Hippie-Spaß". (Rolling Stone, August 2011) ,,Denn wer Kravitz' frühe Alben mochte, wird sich mit ,,Black And White America" gut anfreunden können. Tolle Melodien, viele Gitarrensoli und viele Funkelemente sind darauf. Dazu eine hohe Zahl an Songs (16!) und sogar ein Gastauftritt von Jay-Z." (Audio, October 2011)

Album valt binnen het genre Pop Rock, Soul en Funk Rock.