Nina Simone on the Duty of an Artist

“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times…I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself in.”

 I love this quote! It gave me a new perspective on music from the past and also a different lens to view current music through. A lot of older songs that I love spoke to the time that the artist was living in; their context. Whether it was the style/genre of song, the sounds used, or the actual lyrical content. These songs are super impactful to me because they used music to truly say something important and also make it enjoyable to the listener. They didn’t have to be politicians to make a difference or make their voices heard, they did it through the art they made.

This solidifies to me that in whatever type of “artist” we claim to be, we should be ourselves. There is something special that we can convey specifically for this time and whatever our particular context is with the gifts God has given us!