Ravyn Lenae has teamed up with Spotify for a reimagined version of Roberta Flack‘s iconic track “Killing Me Softly with His Song.”
Spencer Stewart (Alina Baraz, Jacob Banks) produced Lenae’s breathy rendition of the ’70s classic.
The original version of “Killing Me Softly” was recorded by Lori Lieberman in 1971 for her self-titled album. Lieberman said the song was inspired by seeing Don McLean perform “Empty Chairs” at a show.
“I was going through one of my many break-ups and was feeling blue to start with,” Lieberman told PS Audio in a 2022 interview. “Don McLean was ‘a young boy’ who was onstage, solo, and sang many of his wonderful, heartfelt songs. But when he sang ‘Empty Chairs,’ I honestly felt that he was singing straight to me.”
Lieberman continued, “I felt like he was up there reading my diary, and singing about me and my life. I remember feeling embarrassed and exposed, as though people would somehow notice. The song talked about love that got lost and coming home to an empty house, and that really resonated with me in a painfully honest way.”
It wasn’t until 1973 when Roberta Flack’s rendition of “Killing Me Softly with His Song” sent the track to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it dominated for five weeks.
“Killing Me Softly” scored Flack two awards at the 1974 Grammys: Best Pop Female Vocal Performance and Record of the Year. (Flack made history in the latter category, becoming the first artist to win Record of the Year in two consecutive years. In 1973, she won the award for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from her debut album, First Take.)
Hip-hop trio The Fugees later covered “Killing Me Softly” for their second album, The Score, released in 1996. Following in Flack’s footsteps, The Fugees also won a Grammy for their version of the song (Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal) at the 39th Grammy Awards in 1997.
Now that we’ve shared a little history about the song let’s get back to Lenae. The rising singer also performed a new rendition of her freshly released single, “Love Is Blind.” Spencer Stewart produced this version and co-produced the original with Dahi and Solomophonic.
“Love Is Blind,” released as the B-side for Lenae’s “Love Me Not,” will appear on her album, Bird’s Eye, out Aug. 9 via Atlantic Records.
Bird’s Eye is the follow-up to Lenae’s debut album, HYPNOS, which was among Rated R&B’s Best R&B Albums of 2022 list. The album included her Steve Lacy-assisted single “Skin Tight,” which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart.
Stream Ravyn Lenae’s version of “Killing Me Softly” and “Love Is Blind” for Spotify Singles below.
