When Nina Simone signed to colpix in 1959 she was granted complete creative control over her music. This new freedom gave her the ability to explore new subject areas, particularly themes dealing with civil rights. Songs like 'Work Song' on 1961's Forbidden Fruit gave an inkling of the maelstrom that was to come, when she would become a veritable force to be reckoned with, making white audiences squirm in their seats with her harsh condemnation of american apartheid.