Lenny Kravitz chats to H.E.R. about finding yourself as an artist, not always listening to others, and more for the first “Musicians on Musicians” issue of Rolling Stone.
Kravitz, 55, talks discovering who he was and battling with music moguls who wanted him to go with a different sound in the tell-all interview.
The musician shares, “I left home when I was 15. [Record executives] saw my talent, but I wasn’t making the music that they thought I should be making, what my colour skin should be making.
“So they’d offer me deals and say, ‘We know you’re talented, but you need to change your music.’”
H.E.R., 22, adds of being offered a record deal at age 11: “I was a kid, and a lot of people followed me on YouTube, when people were doing covers.
“I was singing, but then I would be back on the playground. I got offered a deal at Interscope when I was 11. I didn’t wanna follow a mould. I wanted to be who I was, and I didn’t really know who I was.”
She explains how she’s going to work on “tapping into” herself over the next year.
Kravitz assures her, “Trust me: 30 years later, when you’re still doing it, you’ll still be finding who you are. I feel like I’m just getting comfortable with who I am.”
