If you want an example of a genre of music that has been pushed forward by an artist, you would have a hard time finding somebody like Lenny Kravitz to compare them to. Lenny is a modern throwback. His music, for lack of a better phrase, transcends time.
This song “Human” is a perfect example of what we are talking about. Open the time machine door to sometime in the early 70’s and you would here this same style. Then, if you brought somebody from that time to the present and played this song, they would first be amazed that the little picture phone played music, and then feel right at home hearing Human.