To Be Young, Gifted and Black

"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" is a song by Nina Simone with lyrics by Weldon Irvine. The song was originally recorded and released by Simone in 1969. The song was also featured on her 1970 album Black Gold and was considered an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. Released as a single, it peaked at number eight on the R&B chart and number 76 on the Hot 100. The title and opening line of the song come from Lorraine Hansberry's autobiographical play, To Be Young, Gifted and Black.[1]

This article is about the song. For similarly named articles, see Young, Gifted and Black (disambiguation).
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black"
Song by Nina Simone
from the album Black Gold
Released1970
RecordedOctober 26, 1969
VenuePhilharmonic Hall, New York City
GenreSoul, blues, gospel
Length9:34
LabelRCA
Composer(s)Nina Simone
Lyricist(s)Weldon Irvine
Producer(s)Stroud Productions

Background

"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" was written in memory of Simone's late friend Lorraine Hansberry, author of the play A Raisin in the Sun, who had died in 1965 aged 34.

Cover Versions

Notable cover versions of the song were recorded by:

  • Simone sang it to a group of children on the PBS TV series Sesame Street on February 18, 1972.[3]

Samples
  • The song has also become a popular sample amongst various modern R&B/hip-hop pieces, including Rah Digga's 2003 unreleased record "On the Move", Faith Evans' 2014 single "I Deserve It", featuring Missy Elliott and Sharaya J, and on the title track of Rapsody's 2017 album Laila's Wisdom.

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 528.
  2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 67. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. "Nina Simone at Sesame Street". YouTube. 18 February 1972. Retrieved 2020-03-27.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.