What makes Nina Simone such an emotional singer?
Breathtaking, awe-inspiring, spine-tingling, immaculate, and era-defining are all words that have been used to describe the vocal prowess of Nina Simone. Her voice is simultaneously her weapon and her beacon, a sonic representation of her personal experiences and all those who have followed in her footsteps. On the topic of great musical voices, no one tops Simone. But what, exactly, made her voice rich with emotion?
While it’s widely regarded that Simone was one of the greatest singers of all time, what’s even more interesting is that she was one of the few singers who channelled her life and career into her voice. From her early days as Eunice Waymon to her more accomplished later years, Simone was a rich heart whose voice sounded exactly as you would expect someone filled with such a dense array of emotions to sound.
One of the obvious examples is Wild Is The Wind, one of the most romantic records of all time, and the epitome of Simone’s capabilities when overlapping various experiences and emotions, resulting in music that feels exactly how it sounds. Somehow, on voice alone, Simone could make music feel simultaneously like crashing waves and the sun on your skin—often within the same song.
The contradictory element of Simone’s voice enabled her to channel authenticity in a way that many couldn’t. She carried the pain, joy, sadness, and trauma of her life and held it in her voice, beckoning empathy and understanding while keeping a heady distance. It was the perfect display of validating lived experience while platforming unity, the duality of both technicality and free-styling culminating in a deeply immersive experience.
Simone also mastered balancing fragility with strength, like in ‘Four Women’, which beautifully demonstrated her ability to oscillate between vulnerability and empowerment seamlessly. The anger she feels within emits a clarion call for the dismantling of prejudice. Her delivery always seemed heavy but never restricted, featherlight but rife with conviction, unsettling but gloriously warm.
Was Nina Simone a contralto?
But it wasn’t just Simone’s emotion that drove her artistic vision; she was also a contralto, which, accompanied by her jazz-leaning style, meant that she could reach some of the lowest notes and deliver melodies with a notably rich, deep, and powerful quality. This also allowed her to intensify her delivery of intense passion and deep sorrow, making her performances consistently compelling and unique.
As a contralto, Simone likely had a thicker and longer vocal cord compared to sopranos and mezzo-sopranos. This often results in lower, thicker tones, perfect for her story-telling approach and ideal for someone whose music relies on the complexities of both experience and stylistic eclecticism. Her naturally lower speaking voice also meant that her singing voice often sounded fuller and darker but rich and warm at the same time.
Simone’s nasality also meant that her vocals seemed to carry more depth and weight, which, combined with many of the themes she explored, profoundly impacted her ability to resonate. Using ‘Strange Fruit’ as an example, the song doesn’t hit so hard because of its lyrics; of course, that is a significant aspect of the listening experience, but Simone’s vocals also provide an immensely haunting element, the various high and low notes providing an amalgamation that gives the story its natural sense of macabre.
