UB Spotlight’s Aretha Franklin | Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Natural Woman’ Released from ‘RESPECT’

Aretha Franklin’s voice is considered the best, most powerful, and culturally significant voice of all time. The Queen of Soul’s hit songs “Respect,” “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and “Think,” to name a few, have become a part of the American music canon — all classics that defined the resistance and resilience of Black people during the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and the Women’s Movement — and still resonate today at a moment in time where the world is in crisis and in need of soulfulness.

Soul music is an art form born out of the Black experience from slavery to emancipation, to the Great Migration to the creation and development of the Black middle class. Culled from spirituals, coded freedom songs, juke joints, gospel music, the blues, jazz, doo-wop, and protest music, soul music is exactly that — music and vocals that come from the depths of the Black experience in America and are filled with emotion, love, generational trauma from slavery, structural and systemic racism, and optimism steeped in unshakable faith.

“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.”
— Aretha Franklin

The core of soul music is a deeply emotional expression of a confluence of joy and pain — often influenced by love, sorrow, and release — in an attempt to find salvation in a world that subjugates, oppresses, marginalizes, and attempts to belittle or erase the very existence and contributions of Black people in America. But, there is also a sense of optimism and encouragement to not only survive but to thrive, overcome, and conquer oppression in the quest for Black joy. Aretha Franklin’s voice, music, life, and legacy represent the struggle of the Black experience and offer a reimagining of Black liberation, excellence, and emotional rescue that speaks to African Americans, but also the greater human experience globally.

Ms. Franklin’s story is one that profoundly resonates right now in the Black Lives Matter Movement when the world is going through a cathartic racial reckoning and a tipping point of a cultural revolution where diverse identities are unapologetically declaring their voices and visibility. People are tired of white supremacy, patriarchy, and hypermasculinity and finding freedom in their own authenticity at every intersection of their being — they want to be seen, heard, and respected.

Aretha Franklin created a road map through her own life experience from being a child music prodigy who grew up with great privilege in a household in Detroit that understood the importance of social protest, racial justice, and community organizing which was centered squarely in the foundation of the Black church — faith, service, and self-actualization. And while Ms. Franklin will always be remembered for having the best voice of all time, the finding of her voice is not widely known. The challenge for Aretha Franklin is a masterclass in navigating and overcoming grief that would become the artistic inspiration that created musical masterpieces that have saved lives, moved culture, and shifted the soundtrack to Black America. Ms. Franklin’s gifts quite frankly made room for her and in turn, anyone who listened to her music.

Jennifer Hudson will play Aretha in the highly anticipated film “Respect.” Alongside Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess and Mary J. Blige.

“I had a dream for myself after Dreamgirls – coming off something as big as that? And I said the only thing that could top that would be to play Aretha Franklin, and I don’t know if she heard me or if she had that same thing in mind,” Jennifer Hudson stated. “But right after I won my Oscar for Dreamgirls, she wanted to meet me, and it was in New York. Over 15 years ago. That’s how long we talked about this. We sat down, and we talked about me playing her. And she told me I was very shy, asking me “are you shy or something?” I remember telling her “well I am sitting here talking to Ms. Aretha Franklin.”

“When I look back throughout my career thus far & many times I got to tribute Aretha, meet her, sing her songs, admire her. Thinking back to Dreamgirls, people mentioned that I was reminiscent of a young version of Aretha Franklin, Now it seems that it was destined in a way”

“When I first heard that it was Jennifer Hudson playing Aretha in the film, I was happy because that’s a no-brainer,” says Mary J. Blige, who plays Dinah Washington — a family friend of the Franklins. “Jennifer is an amazing singer. She has that thing in her voice like Aretha has in her voice, the anointing. She can sing anything. When I saw her in the dressing room getting her makeup done, I actually saw Aretha and I’m sure she [Aretha] would be happy.”

Today, Jennifer Hudson‘s version of “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” has been released from the soundtrack. The classic song famously co-written by Carole King.

The “Respect” Soundtrack will arrive on August 13th, the same day as the film. The soundtrack will feature Jennifer‘s version of 17 Aretha Franklin classics.