As soon as I saw Nina Simone's name in the essay, I immediately thought of this cover of "Be my Husband" done by my personal favorite artist, Ed Sheeran.  I've heard this song so many times and I had no idea who Nina Simone was, so I looked up her original version and I had chills the entire time. Her voice is so unique and outrageously beautiful. As I was watching her performance, I couldn't help but notice similarities between her and Ed. 

Both Ed and Nina have such a different singing voice. They have the same type of beautiful rasp and pureness of voice that not many people have . Its mesmerizing to listen to them sing. The simplicity of their performances, both only performing this song with one instrument, is a showcase for the pure talent they have inside them. Ed creates music in a similar way that Nina did, using not only instruments, but their bodies. Ed uses clapping, stomping, and beat boxing, which are similar to the ways Simone created her beats through stomping and clapping as well. Ed does this not just in this song he covered, but many others of his own songs he has written.

One song that reminds me the most of Nina is "Give Me Love". The concept of the lyrics is so similar and the way that it is performed is chillingly powerful, just like Nina's version of "Be My Husband".There is such a huge emphasis on the chorus and beat, which is uncannily similar to Nina's work.  In "Be My Husband", Nina only changes up the song three times, but keeps the same beat and repetitive chorus. There is a similar structure to "Give Me Love".  This song is really simple, but the way you perform it is what gives it it's power, which goes for "Be My Husband" too. This is my favorite performance of Ed's song and it without a doubt demonstrates how Nina Simone has influenced Ed as a singer and performer.