"Rock Star City Life" is a song recorded by the American singer Lenny Kravitz and released on February 20, 2011, as the third single from his album Black and White America. The track was the last one recorded for the album.[1]
| "Rock Star City Life" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Lenny Kravitz | ||||
| from the album Black and White America | ||||
| Released | July 7, 2011 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:24 | |||
| Label | Roadrunner, Loud & Proud | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross | |||
| Producer(s) | Lenny Kravitz | |||
| Lenny Kravitz singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| Lenny Kravitz - Rock Star City Life on YouTube | ||||
Background
editThe song is a funky guitar composition written with rock-and-roll colors about Kravitz's admiration for a glamorous underage named Lolita.
Kravitz explained to Rolling Stone, "The process was longer than any other time I've made an album. I definitely prolonged it. There were points where I said, 'The album's done.' Then I'd go to Europe and be playing it in the car, and I'm like, 'No, I hear more stuff.' It's the first time that I've gone this far in shaping, reshaping, shaping, reshaping, shaping, reshaping. And the result is that I'm actually 100 percent satisfied with every millisecond of the album."[1][2]
Reception
editRyan Reed of Paste stated, "Unfortunately, Kravitz’s whiter side proves far less interesting. The rollicking "Rock Star City Life" is catchy in a commercial kinda way—you certainly don’t feel good about singing along (even as you inevitably do). The lyrics are generic (as you can deduce, based on the title), even if every detail of the production and arrangement is immaculately groomed."[3] James Montgomery of MTV called the song "a down-and-dirty ode to excess".[4]
Charts
edit| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] | 62 |
| Germany (GfK)[6] | 98 |
References
edit- ^ a b Hart, Josh (July 7, 2011). "Lenny Kravitz Offering Free Download of New Song, "Rock Star City Life"". Guitar World. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
- ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (July 8, 2011). "Download Lenny Kravitz's New Song 'Rock Star City Life'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
- ^ Reed, Ryan (August 29, 2011). "Lenny Kravitz: Black and White America". Paste. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
- ^ Montgomery, James (July 5, 2011). "Lenny Kravitz Reveals Inspiration For Black And White America". MTV. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
- ^ "Lenny Kravitz – Rock Star City Life" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
- ^ "Lenny Kravitz – Rock Star City Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved July 1, 2021.