About Nina Cried Power (feat. Mavis Staples)

"Nina Cried Power" is a song recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, featuring vocals from American rhythm and blues and gospel singer Mavis Staples. It was released on 6 September 2018 as the lead single from Hozier's second studio album Wasteland, Baby!.

"Nina Cried Power" is the first track on the album, written by Hozier alone. The song is described as a "soulful anthem" and contains blues and gospel influences, with subtle piano, a playful drumbeat, and soothing guitar rhythm. The lyrics namecheck the artist-activists of previous generations, including Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, BB King, Marvin Gaye, Pete Seeger, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, contributing vocalist Mavis Staples, and the titular Nina Simone; The naming of the track is a nod to Simone's recording of Sinnerman, which features the lyric "I cried power." The song describes their work as the "hearing of a human spirit ringing." "Nina Cried Power" salutes their contributions to the protest music of the American Civil Rights Movement, declaring that "It's not the waking, it's the rising." After touring his debut album, Hozier took a one-year hiatus from his work, residing in Ireland to "reconnect" after touring his debut album. He stated that he became a "news junkie" and wrote much of the album's material "trying to reconcile" his own "concerns and anxieties" regarding humanity when Doomsday Clock moved two seconds to midnight in 2018. Staples influenced the record's musical conception; "Nina Cried Power" was originally written on the piano while Hozier strived to make "music that hit a little bit harder, that leaned in to rhythm a little bit more". Hozier has stated that his musical education was "grounded" in Chicago blues artists like Nina Simone and many of the artists receiving nods in the song have frequently been cited as his influences; he has previously stressed the importance of "crediting the legacy you're crediting".