"I don't think about the styles. I write whatever comes out and I use whatever kind of instrumentation works for those songs"
About this Quote
Kravitz is pitching a kind of artistic innocence: the idea that the best music arrives before branding does. In an era where artists are sorted into micro-genres like products on a shelf, “I don’t think about the styles” reads less like a workflow note and more like a refusal to be merchandised. It’s also a savvy move from a musician whose whole career has been dogged by genre-policing: too rock for R&B radio, too funk-soul for rock purists, too retro for critics addicted to novelty. The line is a preemptive shrug at that gatekeeping.
The subtext is craftsmanship dressed up as spontaneity. “Whatever comes out” sells the romantic myth of pure expression, but he immediately follows it with a practical producer’s logic: instrumentation is chosen because it “works.” That’s the tell. He’s not floating in inspiration; he’s curating a palette, borrowing from the vocabulary of rock, soul, psychedelia, and gospel without asking permission. It’s a defense of hybridity as technique, not trend.
Context matters: Kravitz emerged when the industry was aggressively format-driven, and “crossover” could be both a compliment and a slur. His statement pushes back on the idea that identity has to be sonically singular. He’s arguing that the song is the unit of truth, not the category. That’s why it lands: it reframes eclecticism from indecision into discipline, and it dares listeners to judge the result instead of the label.
The subtext is craftsmanship dressed up as spontaneity. “Whatever comes out” sells the romantic myth of pure expression, but he immediately follows it with a practical producer’s logic: instrumentation is chosen because it “works.” That’s the tell. He’s not floating in inspiration; he’s curating a palette, borrowing from the vocabulary of rock, soul, psychedelia, and gospel without asking permission. It’s a defense of hybridity as technique, not trend.
Context matters: Kravitz emerged when the industry was aggressively format-driven, and “crossover” could be both a compliment and a slur. His statement pushes back on the idea that identity has to be sonically singular. He’s arguing that the song is the unit of truth, not the category. That’s why it lands: it reframes eclecticism from indecision into discipline, and it dares listeners to judge the result instead of the label.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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