Next Friday, Netflix will premiere Liz Garbus’s stirring Nina Simone documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone? With it comes a soundtrack of Simone covers recorded by her daughter, Lisa Simone, as well as Mary J. Blige, Common, Gregory Porter, Jazmine Sullivan, and more. But the biggest and most unexpected presence on that album is Lauryn Hill, who, despite only planning to contribute two covers, ended up recording six. Given her own elusive history, it feels appropriate.
“Because I fed on this music … I believed I always had a right to have a voice,” Hill explained of her connection to Simone. “Her example is clearly a form of sustenance to a generation needing to find theirs. What a gift.” At a premiere of the film earlier this month, Hill performed a few of those covers, and now Rolling Stone has premiered what’ll likely be the most-talked-about of all her covers: Simone’s signature song, “Feeling Good.” If you were worried Hill’s voice has somehow waned in the decade-plus since her last album, this will quickly shatter any doubt.
