Lauryn Hill Channels Nina Simone’s Netflix Documentary

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It’s doesn’t happen often when someone gets to salute of the their own heroes.

That honor goes to Ms. Lauryn Hill who is featured on the soundtrack to the Netflix’s upcoming Nina Simone documentary, “What Happened, Miss Simone?” Several artists from today’s music are recording cover songs of the late jazz legend’s discography. For Ms. Lauryn Hill, she finds the degree of separation between the two are next to nothing.

“Because I fed on this music, both hers and lovers like her, like my basic food, I believed I always had a right to have a voice. Her example is clearly a form of sustenance to a generation needing to find theirs. What a gift,” the ex-Fugees leader tells Rolling Stone about her cover of “Feeling Good.”

Jayson Jackson, the film’s producer who served as an executive producer on the album and previously as a member of Hill’s management team, found himself connected to Simone through Hill when they met on tour in 1999. “Nina was wheeled into her green room and told everyone to get out,” Jackson tells Rolling Stone. “I had no idea who she was and was prepared to bounce her from the room until I saw Lauryn’s mother shedding tears. I asked why she was crying and all she could muster was, ‘That’s Nina Simone, she is one of my heroes.’

Source: David Redfern / Getty

What Happened, Miss Simone? premieres on Netflix on June 26th and shortly after on July 10, the compilation Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone will be released. Common, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Jazmine Sullivan and Simone’s daughter Lisa all chip in on the project, among others. Peep the compilation’s tracklist down below.

1. Lisa Simone – “Nobody’s Fault but Mine (Intro)”

2. Ms. Lauryn Hill – “Feeling Good”

3. Ms. Lauryn Hill – “I’ve Got Life” – Ms. Lauryn Hill

4. Ms. Lauryn Hill – “Ne Me Quitte Pas” – Ms. Lauryn Hill

5. Jazmine Sullivan – “Baltimore”

6. Grace – “Love Me or Leave Me”

7. Usher – “My Baby Just Cares For Me”

8. Mary J. Blige – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”

9. Gregory Porter – “Sinnerman”

10. Common & Lalah Hathaway – “YG&B”

11. Alice Smith – “I Put A Spell On You”

12. Lisa Simone – “I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl”

13. Ms. Lauryn Hill – “Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair”

14. Ms. Lauryn Hill – “Wild Is The Wind”

15. Ms. Lauryn Hill – “African Mailman”

16. Nina Simone – “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”

Listen to Fugees member pay tribute to one of her musical influences in the song “Feeling Good”; click here.  

Lauryn Hill Channels Nina Simone’s Netflix Documentary  was originally published on boom92houston.com