Lenny Kravitz recently made headlines revealing in an Esquire interview that he’s been shunned by notable black entertainment media organizations over the course of his career despite breaking down barriers in the world of rock. And now, Living Colour’s Corey Glover has relayed that his band has received similar treatment over the years.
Kravitz was initially quoted in the Esquire interview as stating, “To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing. And it’s like, here is a Black artist who has reintroduced many Black art forms, who has broken down barriers – just like those that came before me broke down. That is positive. And they don’t have anything to say about it?”
Using Kravitz’s comments as a jumping off point, Glover relayed his experiences in how Living Colour have been viewed by certain black entertainment media outlets as well.
While Glover acknowledged that one of the organizations claimed that they had reached out to Kravitz, but that his “people” had stated that he had no interest, he then went on to share that whether Kravitz’s comments were true or not, they had a similar experience to what the singer had described.
Glover explained, “Living Colour throughout has made a conscious effort to make ourselves available to places like BET, the Source etc. Mind you this was happening simultaneously to us in the rock idiom. Their response to us usually was that we did not fit in their format. Ironic, that was the same response we got from the Rock n roll / white entertainment organizations.”
He added, “Lenny was right. None of us has been awarded let alone acknowledged for our achievements. Living Colour in the past has worked with such historical luminaries as a Little Richard and Mick Jagger. We’ve worked with a hip-hop royalty from Queen Latifah, Doug E Fresh, Chuck D & Flava Flav to Run DMC. And yet there’s barely a mention of rocks contribution to what is modern black music, let alone in rock and roll circles.”
“It’s been our experience that most people of color have no idea how deep and far reaching the influence of Black people in the modern-day rock ‘n’ roll there are, let alone it’s impact on R&B and hip hop. What we hear is ‘that’s white people stuff’ when in fact, it is not,” he continues.
The singer concludes, “It’s hard enough to live in places where you expect white supremacy, but not from your own people.”
Glover’s full statement can be read in full below:
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Living Colour certainly have a career resume worthy of recognition. The band has recorded six albums over the course of their history, that included a five-year split before they reunited.
Their 1988 debut, Vivid, was a Top 10 album (it peaked at No. 6), featuring a diverse collection of songs from the hard hitting Grammy winning “Cult of Personality” to the more funky Grammy nominated single “Glamour Boys.” They’ve had seven charting Mainstream Rock singles, while three of their songs crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100.
Best New Rock / Metal Band of Each Year of the 1980s
Keeping the rock flowing.
Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
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