At the age of two, Eunice Waymon, professionally known as Nina Simone, was able to play hymns perfectly by ear on the organ. “Church taught me rhythm”, she shares in her autobiography, I Put A Spell On You, a phrase that would serve as the foundation for her improvisational dexterity. Simone’s prodigious talent, later honed and developed through formal classical training and live club performances, would take her on a journey of piano and vocal composition and performance that transformed freedom and protest songs in the United States. Her catalogue impacted Black listeners and musicians globally during and beyond her lifetime. 

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, known professionally as Nina Simone, was born in Tyron, North Carolina, on the 21st of February, 1933. The child of hardworking, devout Methodist clergy members, it was in her mother’s church that she began playing the piano and gaining the support of family and community towards her ambitions of becoming a classical pianist, despite the economic hardships presented by the Great Depression and Second World War. Her prodigious abilities were first guided by an English piano tutor and would lead Simone to formal training at the prolific Juilliard School in 1950. Simone’s pursuit was halted following her rejected admission to Curtis Institute of Music, which Simone alleged was motivated by racial prejudice. 

Forced to reimagine her dreams, Simone turned to teaching and performing song and piano at night clubs for several years prior to the release of her debut album, Little Girl Blue, in 1959, at the age of 26. Showcasing her mastery of the piano and her extensive repertoire across the genres of jazz, blues, and classical music, Simone emerged and gained popularity just as fellow Black female musicians Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Abbey Lincoln were transforming the genres of jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues. 

Black Sisterhood in Music

Simone’s debut, and subsequent singles released by Bethlehem Records, readies listeners for the multifaceted composer, arranger, and vocalist’s musical style. African Mailman and Central Park Blues give Simone’s take on the genres of Afro-Cuban Jazz and Blues, while Love Me or Leave Me showcases Simone’s mastery of Baroque counterpoint through jazz improvisation.  

In the years to follow, some of the most intense of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, Simone’s artistry would exclusively and unapologetically capture the experiences of the Black community and become essential to the people’s soundtrack for freedom and liberation. In 1964, three years following her Carnegie debut alongside lifelong friend Miriam Makeba, Simone took to the Carnegie Hall stage to perform and record Mississippi Goddam in front of a mostly white, audibly uncomfortable audience. 

"The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam and I mean every word of it… I bet you thought I was kidding, didn't you?" 

Composed as a show tune following the murder of Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Simone captured the grief, anger, and frustration of Black people across the United States. The song would become an anthem for the movement against anti-Black violence and discrimination, with Simone, then 31, becoming its uncensored voice.

"Don't tell me, I'll tell you

Me and my people just about due

I've been there so I know

They keep on saying 'Go slow!'"

For the remainder of Simone’s career, her compositions, recordings, and performances continued to reflect and honour the artist’s political consciousness. In a 1969 interview with veteran journalist Phyl Garland, Simone shared:

“...There’s no other purpose, as far as I’m concerned, for us [artists] except to reflect the times, the situations around us and the things that we’re able to say through our art, the things that millions of people can’t say. I think that’s the function of an artist and, of course, those of us who are lucky leave a legacy so that when we’re dead, we also live on. That’s people like Billie Holiday and I hope that I will be that lucky, but meanwhile, the function, so far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times, whatever that might be.”

Her musical legacy, during and beyond her lifetime, resonates with listeners and musicians across the world. Simone’s 1966 interpretation and arrangement of the African American spiritual “Sinnerman” remains popular, presenting a 10-minute reimagining of the revival meetings of her youth. Singing, playing, and conducting simultaneously, Simone embodies the fervour of a preacher calling on sinners to confess their sins. Sinnerman would later be reinterpreted by reggae legend Peter Tosh in “Downpressor Man”. 

The Gospel According to Enny

“Young, Gifted and Black” is a song dedicated to Black youth across the world and was inspired by the work of Simone’s close friend Lorraine Hansberry. Simone’s exaltation of young Black people’s existence, aspirations, and future possibilities were shared by musicians Marcia and Bob, whose 1970 cover reached number 5 on the UK charts. It continues to hold a special place in the hearts of Black Britons.

"You are young, gifted and black

We must begin to tell our young

There's a world waiting for you

Yours is the quest that's just begun” 

"Four Women", perhaps the most iconic of Simone's compositions in terms of lyrical content and structure, captures the musician's analysis of the impact of centuries of anti-Black misogyny and deconstructs African American female archetypes. In each chorus, "Aunt Sarah", "Saffronia", "Sweet Thing", and "Peaches" narrate how they've navigated and survived oppression, exploitation, fetishisation, and violence. Jazz musician Somi, in her 2014 major label debut Lagos Music Salon, builds on and extends Simone's lyrics to the continent of Africa. "Four African Women" features the narratives of "Gatsinzi", "Beauty Queen", "Mariatou", and "Asawo" as they navigate genocide, sex work, female genital mutilation, and the growing practice of skin bleaching. Queen Ifrica's 2021 cover of "Four Women' also served as a tribute to Simone, whom Ifrica channeled in both vocal style and stage presence for the recently released music video produced by Stephen Marley. 

The refashioned childhood dreams of Eunice Waymon willed themselves into the lyrics, compositions, and arrangements of Nina Simone, a dark-skinned Black woman from North Carolina who gave the world an invaluable body of work that continues to reflect the spirit of revolution and demand for freedom. Let her not be misunderstood, this revolutionary composer and cultural activist who continues to persuade us to become more aware of ourselves.