The remarkable moment Nina Simone predicted the future of pop music
Popular music was ongoing in a strange transitional period during the 1960s. What had begun as pithy love songs and the odd rock ‘n’ roll anthem in the 1950s was splintering off into a vast range of different styles and genres. At points, it was difficult to define exactly what made pop music, especially with pop artists like The Beatles entering more mature phases and mature artists like Nina Simone embracing a more pop-infused sound. However, if anybody could make sense of the increasingly diffuse music scene, it was the visionary that was Nina Simone.
Simone’s own trajectory within the music industry is worthy of note. A classically trained pianist, she arrived on most people’s radars with Little Girl Blue in 1959. A masterpiece of jazz piano and vocal performance, the debut album quickly cemented Simone as an artist to keep your eye on as the world moved into the 1960s. However, as her discography developed, particularly on records like ‘Nuff Said!, the musician moved closer to styles of blues, soul and pop.
Of course, few people would dare to complain about this shift in style. After all, Simone repeatedly proved herself to be a master of multiple genres and a formidable character. Nevertheless, her journey through music is pretty odd. Most artists would start out with pop appeal and catchy tunes before moving into something more considered and generally high-brow. For the most part, Simone’s move towards soul can be attributed to her growing interest in and devotion to the civil rights movement, which inspired some of her best-loved tracks, including ‘Mississippi Goddam’ and ‘Ain’t Got No, I Got Life’.
It is clear, then, that Simone’s opinions on the ever-diversifying field of pop music are worth listening to. During an interview with DownBeat Magazine in 1968, the pianist voiced her views on the state of pop music at the time and her predictions for its future. “In general,” she shared, “I like what’s happening in pop music. It’s taking on some standards—I’m glad to say—that it should have had years ago”. The standards that she is talking about are not really expanded upon, however, this was around the same time that it became the norm for artists to write their own songs, rather than have them provided by a record label.
According to Simone, the increase in songwriting quality that these changes brought were likely to continue far into the future. “I believe the time will come when the whole definition of pop music will change,” Simone explained, “It will get to the point where a song will not be a good song until it has a high level of creativity in writing and performance. In other words, in order to be popular, songs will have to meet these high standards”.
Now, over 50 years later, we can look back upon Simone’s predictions and see that, for the most part, she is correct. Songwriting today is in a much better place than it was back in the 1960s, as new styles and attitudes have emerged, which makes the discussion of topics like race, sexuality and gender much more accepted than in Simone’s day. As a result, the world of songwriting has become more diverse and, on the whole, more skilful.
That is not to say, however, that every successful song features high levels of creativity in both performance and writing. If you look at some of the most successful songs of recent years, there are certainly some stinkers in there. But then, there have always been outliers and exceptions to the rule. Case in point: Nina Simone herself, who never operated in a way that was at all predictable.
