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To 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 Kravitz

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To Let Go Of

Lenny Kravitz

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To 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.

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I Think Kids In Europe Have Developed A Deeper Knowledge Of Music And Of Black Music In Particular. You Go To Europe, And These Kids Know About All This Obscure Funk And Soul That Kids Over Here Wouldn't Know. I Think It's Getting Better In The States, Though, With The Age Of The Internet.

I Identify More With Women Than With Men. I Guess I Have A Strong Feminine Side.

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I 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.

People Don't Realize It, But No One Lives That Rock And Roll Life 24-7. They Think It's Hundreds Of Bottles Of Champagne Flowing And Private Jets And Money. But There's A Lot Of Time When You're Traveling - Time To Think, Time To Be Lonely. Sometimes It Gets To You.

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None 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.

I Haven't Thought About Making A Music Film, But If I Did, That Would Be A Very Interesting Idea.

God Is Love And If You Are Ready, He Always Is.

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We'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.

I Didn't Really Listen To Rock 'n' Roll Until I Moved To La. We Would Ditch School, Go Get High, Put On Zeppelin Iv And Just Bug Out.

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If 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.

If You Heard My Records And No One Told You, I Don't Think You'd Know Whether It's A Band Or One Guy.

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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.

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Music, For Me, Is Completely Self-indulgent. I Write It, I Play The Instruments, I Arrange It, I Produce It. It's All About Me - As It Should Be.

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African American

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I 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. I Don't Think About The Styles. I Write Whatever Comes Out And I Use Whatever Kind Of Instrumentation Works For Those Songs...a Lot Of People Don't Listen To The Lyrics, Really. A Lot Of People Pretty Much Only Listen To The Chorus.

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One Musician Listens To Another Musician, And You Get Inspired And Then You Do Your Thing, But It's Yours.

I'm So Happy. I Am Able To See The World Just By Making Music, Just By Doing The Thing That I Loved Doing When I Was Five Years Old.

I Just Live My Life And Try To Be Present.

It's A Good Time For Me To Pursue Acting, I Suppose Since I'm Enjoying Having Another Medium In Which To Express Myself. I've Been Getting A Great Response To My Work.

Me Being In My Grandmother's Yard In Brooklyn. I Must Have Been About 3. I Had This Red Balloon. I Let Go Of It, And It Went Up Into The Sky And Just Kept Going And Going. I Completely Flipped Out, Because I Didn't Understand Why.

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I Wouldn't Play Together With Someone Who Likes To Control Everything Like Me.

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People Feel They Have To Live That Stereotypical Lifestyle In Order To Be A Rock Star. You Don't Have To Shoot Heroin And Act A Certain Way To Be A Rock And Roll Musician.

I'm Half Jewish, I'm Half Black, I Look In-between. I Dress Funny. I Play All These Different Styles Of Music On One Record. It's Like, What Is He Doing?

I 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.

My Career Has Been A Gradual Climb. I Think That's Part Of The Reason Why I've Had Longevity.

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To 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.

At 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.

God Forbid You Sing About Love. It's A Lost Concept.

I've Lived My Life Dealing With Everybody. And That's How It's Always Been For Me.

It's A Trip To Have A Greatest Hits Record. It's A Trip.

I Get Hired As A Writer Or Producer And I Do The Best I Can To Bring Out That Artist. If Somebody Calls You To Do Something, You Go Right For That Vision And You're Aware Of That Person's Vibe. You're Trying To Get Inside Of Them.

God Gave Me The Gift To Be Able To Play Instruments And I Have To Play.

I'm Sure Great Scripts Are Hard To Find, But I'm Definitely Open, And Waiting To See What Comes My Way.

I Honestly Don't Remember How I Wrote Or Did The Songs. Or The Sessions. They All Become Very Much A Blur. And Each Album Is Like That. It May Be That There Are Different Locations, It May Take Longer, Shorter, Or Whatever, But It's Always Something That Just Happened.

This World Is So Crazy. So Many Things Are Based On Popularity Versus Talent. So There's A Lot Of Folks Who Are Not So Talented, But They're Popular And They Have "x" Amount Of Followers On Social Media.

I'm Not One Of Those Artists Who Refuses To Play Their Hits. I Find That Ridiculous. Hits Are A Blessing.

A Lot Of People Don't Listen To The Lyrics, Really.

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I Found It A Really Refreshing Change Of Pace To Suddenly Be Completely Directed. It Was A Type Of Collaboration That I Don't Normally Have.

I'm Always Sort Of Reflecting On What I Do On What I've Done. Usually Before I Make A New Album, I'll Listen To The Previous Albums Just To See Where I've Been.

I Bought [john Lennon's] 'plastic Ono Band,' And I Listened To It Over And Over For Months. It's A Monumental Work Of Genius.

The 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.

When I Stopped Trying To Write Songs, That's When I'm Able To Begin Writing Songs. You Have To Just Use Your Life, And The Things Around You For Your Inspiration.

Tape Machines Are Effects Boxes As Well Because Each Tape Machine Has Its Own Sound. You Can Over-load A Tape Machine Or You Can Bump It A Certain Way So It Compresses Or Makes A Sound, Tape Saturation.

The Most Important Thing For Me Is The Moment, Going From One Thing To The Next And Hitting All The Different Levels And Different Points That Make The Whole What It Is.

Personal Relationship With God Is Not All Just The Ceremony And Not The Religion Of Doing Something Because You Were Told That's What You Have To Do; It's Relationships, It's Like We Have Relationships With Our Families, With Our Friends, With Our Loved Ones.

Relationship With God

For The Last Few Years, It's Been So Chic For Everybody To Be Miserable. Like If You're In With The Cool Crowd, You Can't Be Happy.

There Are So Many People That Don't Believe In Themselves And Don't Have Faith.

So That's Why You've Got To Try, You Got To Breath And Have Some Fun. Though I'm Not Paid, I Play This Game, And I Won't Stop Until I'm Done. But What I Really Want To Know Is - Are You Gonna Go My Way?

Life, 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.

My Mother Gave Lots Of Good Advice And Had A Lot To Say. As You Get Older, You Realize Everything She Said Was True.

I Find Cooking To Be The One Thing That Relaxes Me. I Don't Get To Do It Often . . .

Race In This Country Is Still The Elephant In The Room That No One Wants To Discuss.

I've Been Compared To Hundreds Of Artists, Which Just Goes To Show You That I'm Not Any One Thing At All.

Where I'm At In Life, The Women Have Got To Come With Something Else, Not Just The Body, But The Mind And Spirit. It Usually Trips Them Out, But That's The Way It's Going To Be. I'm Looking At The Big Picture.

I'm Just As White As I Am Black, And I'm Just As Russian Jew As I Am West Indian.

I Was Always Talking About Peace And Love, Even When I Was A Kid. That's How I Grew Up In My Family.

Change Is Growth. For Me It Has Been A Very Spiritual And Musical Rebirth.

It Was Amazing To Me That, All Of A Sudden, I Was Hearing My Music On The Radio And Coming Out Of Cars.

We're Beginning To Play God And Get Into Cloning. We Give Up Quickly. Divorce Is An Easy Option. So Why Not Just Create Your Own Mate? Synthesize A Human Being. You Get Tired Of It, Turn It Off And Put It In The Closet Like The Vacuum Cleaner.

It's Very Important To Vote. People Died For This Right.

When 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.

I Always Try To Keep The Circumstances In My Life Fresh. I Like To Change The Physical Environment I Live In, Change The People Around Me And Try To Experience Things For The First Time. I Think That Keeps One On Their Toes, Creatively And Spiritually.

I Am Not Trying To Change The World. I Am Just Offering My Gift That God Gave Me, And If Somebody Is Moved By It, That's Beautiful.

Love , Creativity, And Opportunity Is In The Air. Take It In And Do Your Thing.

Later On In Life I Was Like, "wow!" Because That's Exactly How It Was. They Don't Care That You're Mixed. They See You As One Color.

I Just Feel So Good; It Feels Like A Very Creative Time For Me. As Far As My Mind, Spirit, And Body, I've Never Felt Better.

Good Design Is Being Able To Put A $100,000 Thing Next To A $20 Thing. If It Looks Right And It Works Then It Works. It Doesn't Have To Be Expensive; It's All About The High Meets Low For Me.

Things That Would Shock Us Years Ago Are Like Nothing Now.

You 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.

My Life Is Perfect Because I Accept It As It Is.

Eleutheria, The Fire Is Burning. Eleutheria, The Tables Are Turning.

Love Is The Most Powerful Energy There Is.

At First People Thought I Was Really Arrogant And A Snob About Music Because I'm So Intense About My Production And Sound, And Because They Knew I Didn't Like New Music So Much.

A Dramatic Thing, The First Time You Stand Up To Your Dad.

One Day We're Going To Watch People Fight To The Death, Like Roman Times. Instead Of Being In A Coliseum, We're Going To Watch It On Tv.

I Used To Do Plays And Some Television Commercials When I Was Younger. I Guess My Mom's Being An Actress Got Me Interested In That, But Music Definitely Took Its Place.

Television Commercials

If You Ask A Hundred People, They All Give You Different Answers.

I Never Sit Down To Write Or Say, "today, I Have To Record Something." I Wait To Hear It And Then I Go For It.

I Am Trying To Get Closer To God.

I've Woken Up From Dreams And The Whole Song Is There. I'm Listening To It In My Dreams. I Consciously Have To Wake Myself Up And Get A Tape Recorder Because I Hear It Like A Record.

I Was Taught By My Grandfather That Anything That Your Mind Can Conceive, You Can Have. It's A Reality.

I'm Definitely Happy With Everything I've Done. I Stand Behind It. You'll Always Be Saying, "well, I Could Change That, Or I Would Do That Differently." But You Have To Let It Be What It Is.

I Feel Like I'm Only In The Beginning Of My Career. I've Only Made Five Albums. It's Not A Lot.

Everything That I Make I Use.

It's Interesting To Be Playing A Father Who's On The Other Side Because That's Not My World And Not Where I Came From.

The Way I Was Raised And The People That I Grew Up Around For The Most Part Were Very Humble People, And I Appreciate All That They Taught Me, And Their Energy And Their Magnanimity Help Keep Me Grounded.

We Have So Many Distractions. We're Losing The Family Unit. We're Losing The One-on-one. We're Becoming Extremely Narcissistic. And We Have To Be Careful About That. There's A Lot To Deal With Out There.

A Lot Of My Songs Deal With Spirituality And God, And I Guess If You're In Tune With That, You'll Read Into It.

I'm Looking Forward To Going Out At The Concert With A Clear Head, With A Clear Mind, With A Clear Spirit And Experiencing Whatever It Is. It's Great.

I'm Sure At One Point I Will Do Some Acting Again, But It Would Have To Be The Right Thing. I'm Not Going To Do It Just Because People Are Offering It To Me. Not For Those Box-office, Bullshit, Money, Noncreative People. But I'll Do It When It's Right To Do It.

I Am Still Into The People I Listened To Growing Up, So I Completely Remember What Is Like To Be A Fan, I Haven't Changed.

I've Always Been Into Films. I've Been Offered Lots Of Films But They've Always Been These Very Stereotypical Roles. They Wanted Me To Play Some Gangster Or Street Guy, Or Pimp, Drug Addict.

You're Never Promised Your Next Breath.

I 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.

I'm A Very Open And Loving Person. My Whole Thing Has Been "let Love Rule" Since My First Album. I'm About Unity And Peace And God.

If I Had To Associate Myself With One Song, It Would Probably Be Let Love Rule. It's So Simple And To The Point. It Speaks For Itself.

I Basically Camped Out For A Year And A Half In An Airstream Trailer On The Beach Out In Front Of The Studio. I Had No Idea What I Was Gonna Do, What Kind Of Album I Was Gonna Make - All I Knew Was That I Wanted To Sit There And Just Take In Whatever Came.

The Idea Of Having To Conform To Someone Else's Ideal Is Unacceptable. I'm Gonna Be Me. And If I Can't Be Me, Then I'd Rather Not Do It.

A Lot Of People Pretty Much Only Listen To The Chorus.

I Knew What I Wanted To Do From The Time I Was 5.

I'm Very Much About The Environment, I'm Very Much About Health, About Being Able To, At The Very Least, Eat Organic, Whole Foods That Are Healthy For Us. And Then, Of Course, Everyone Being Able To Eat And At Least Have A Humane Way To Live. There's Enough For Everybody, But Unfortunately, There's A Lot Of Greed And A Lot Of Ego.

Don't Take It So Seriously.

We Weren't Put Here To Be Miserable. We Were Put Here To Do The Best We Can, And We Should Take Our Energy And Improve Our State Of Being.

There's Certain Things In Life That I Love. One Is Architecture. And Music, Culture, Food, People. New Orleans Has All Of That.

If I Were White, I'd Get Less Criticism.

I Made The Record That My Life Had Me Make. Each One Is Like A Diary.

Fly Away Changed My Life. There Are Certain Songs That Do. When I Won The Grammy, I Was In Paris. I Sort Of Forgot About It.

Beyond [barack Obama] Having Made History As The First African-american President, I Hope That He Gets Re-elected For What He Does While In Office, Not For His Skin Color. I Certainly Believe He Has The Capacity.

There's Nothing More That We Love Than Having A Close, Personal, Open Relationship, And I Believe That's What God Wants.

Let's Look At Human Interactions. I Really Believe That There Is A Way For Us To Settle Disputes Nonviolently, Using Our Minds, Using All Of That Was Given To Us.

I Want To Get Away, I Want To Fly Away. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

You'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.

Music Definitely Inspires My Design All The Time.

People Always Accuse Me Of Being Motivational In A Way, Like It Was A Bad Thing, But That's Just How I Was Raised. My Mom Raised Me In A Positive Environment, With Lots Of Love In My Heart, And That Reflects In My Music.

Are Things Getting Better With Each Generation? Yes. It's Quite Interesting To Be Living In These Times, For Me To Witness An African-american Being Elected President. It's Quite Extraordinary.

African American

I 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.

I'm More Hungry Now Than I Was 11 Years Ago. Which Is Great Because I See A Lot Of Artists That Have Been Out For A Long Period Of Time. They Get Kind Of Fat.

Confusion Makes People Uncomfortable. They Can't Put Their Finger On Me.

I Have A Great Time With My Band And On The Stage We Get Along Well.

It Doesn't Take A Lot To Get Me Motivated. I'm A Studio Rat. When I Was In High School And I Would Walk Into A Recording Studio, It Felt Like This Magical Place, This Temple, This Womb That I Could Escape Into.

If 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.

That's A Big Gift When People Say To You That A Song Helped Them Or Brought Them To Some Place In Their Life Where They Needed To Be.

My Mother's Side Of The Family Is From The Bahamas, And I Spent Time There On And Off When I Was Growing Up. It's The Place Where I Feel At Peace.

I Always Read The Capitol As F—ked Up Pansexuality, Everybody Is Doing Everybody. Back To Greek And Roman Times! It’s All Happening.

I Don't Pull, I Just Receive.

I Wanted To Make Something That Sounded Very Pure, Organic, And Personal. I Wanted To Make Music That Was Timeless.

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