Much as I enjoy his music (most of the time, anyway), Lenny had always struck me as sort of self-important and humorless. Well, after twenty-something years of rock stardom, Lenny tries his hand at comedy in the video for “Stand”, the first official single from his upcoming project, Black & White America. Must have been his well-received turn in “Precious” that got him bit by the acting bug. There appears to be some serious “Let’s Make a Deal” type shenanigans going on in this video-on and off-stage. There also appears to be a vague resemblance to OutKast’s “Hey Ya” video, down to the outrageously retro stage outfits, the multiple characters played by Lenny, and that permalicious wig, which looks like it was left over from an old Supremes video (or Lenny’s Baptism album cover shoot).
OutKast’s video didn’t have a Lenny vs. Lenny fight scene, though.
Derivativeness aside (and come on, this is Lenny Kravitz we’re talking about here), both song and video are enjoyable, and this makes me feel a little better about Black & White America than I did when I heard the project’s original lead track “Come On & Get It”. Lenny’s new album, his first for Roadrunner Records, arrives in stores and online August 30th.