JP Cooper, Ex-Factor | COVERS

In the seventh edition of COVERS (2025), JP Cooper delivers a compelling rendition of “Ex-Factor” originally performed by Lauryn Hill.

Ah, it’s time to get cozy and cover up! In COVERS, we highlight a musician or band covering songs by another musician (likely a popular musician). COVERS focuses solely on the musician who covers.  It is open to established musicians and musicians who may not be as well-known. In the seventh edition of COVERS (2025), JP Cooper delivers a compelling rendition of “Ex-Factor” originally performed by Lauryn Hill.

“It could all be so simple / But you’d rather make it hard.”  Those classic lyrics hail from an R&B/hip-hop icon, Lauryn Hill. “Ex-Factor” is a once-in-a-lifetime song from the Grammy-winning musician who made the perfect album with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, her only proper solo album.  English singer/songwriter JP Cooper made a bold move – covering and making “Ex-Factor – BBC Live Session” his own. A tough song to reinterpret given the superbness of the original, Cooper transforms it without changing the tenor of the song.

In the hands of Mr. Cooper, “Ex-Factor” receives a more laid-back interpretation.  His performance remains emotional and heartfelt but has a contrasting groove and sound.  Where the Hill original is firmly planted in neo-soul, Cooper embraces more pop soul. The sound is more stripped-down, not far-fetched for a live session.  Harmonically, the progression differs, with more simplistic chords and substitutions.  At first, I questioned some of the chord changes after hearing the original so many times. The differing progression is effective overall, growing even more effective with successive listens.  Vocally, Cooper sounds exceptional from start to finish.  His falsetto is particularly impressive, though we only get a pinch of it. Still, he spoils us with a gorgeous tone that is perfect to capture the heartbreak of this song.  Cooper is also more laidback on the dramatic ‘breakdown’ section (“Care for me, care for me / I know you care for me / There for me, there for me / Said you’d be there for me”), yet, captures those ‘feels’ nonetheless.  It is an elephantine task to cover a huge hit, but JP Cooper does a nice job of making his “Ex-Factor” cover distinct.

JP Cooper // Covers // Island / Universal Music Operations Limited // 2018

JP Cooper, Ex-Factor: Covers No. 7 (2025) [: Brent Faulkner /The Musical Hype; Universal Music Operations Limited; Alan Cordero, Wolf Art from Pexels; AcatXIo, Enrique, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]