Forever Ms. Simone

Finding Forever, Finding Nina
by Mark Anthony Neal

Though Nina Simone died little more than four years ago and is 40 years removed from her commercial peak, her music—and spirit—continues to be recalled and resurrected in the music of the hip-hop generation. The most recent occasion is Common’s just released Finding Forever, where his “Misunderstood” (with brilliant production from Devo Springsteen) is framed by a live version of Ms. Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Understood”. It is arguably the most arresting (though “Driving Me Wild” with Lily Allen comes close) tune on Finding Forever. And such is the case in virtually every popular instance that the hip-hop generation summons Ms. Simone’s essence.

More than a decade ago it was Lauryn Hill who referenced Ms. Simone in a bid to attach some relevance to her presence in an industry largely tailored to young men with little motivation to be creative. “I could do what you do, EASY!” Hill told her peers, “so while you imitatin' Al Capone/I be Nina Simone and defecating on your microphone.” There are those of us who wonder what the world might be like if El Hajj Malik El Shabazz or Ella Baker would have circulated through American culture to the extent that second-rate rappers and NFL players on paid administrative leave do so now. Hill’s lyrics were a reminder that when Ms. Simone had the mic in her hand and indeed had the attention of the nation, she made real, real.

With the exception of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit," Ms. Simone’s “Mississippi Goddamn” ranks as one of the most incendiary songs every recorded by a black artist in the United States (though if thinking across the Afropolitan landscape, we’d of course have to mention Fela Kuti and Robert Nesta Marley). And not to discount the work of artists like Chuck D or Paris, but neither was going to be physically lynched or murdered for recording “Welcome to the Terrordome” or “Bush Killa.” The threats to Ms. Simone’s body, spirit and livelihood were real as she told the American public that “I hope you die, die like flies” in response to their failure to come to grips with the so-called race question.

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