India aria

India Arie (2010)

India Arie [ ˈɪndiə ɑːˈɹiː ] (born October 3, 1975 in Denver , Colorado ), often written India.Arie , is an American singer , composer and guitarist whose music is strongly influenced by the tradition of singer-songwriters (see also songwriters ) is the coined form of soul .

Life

She was baptized India Arie Simpson . Her first name India refers to the proximity of her birthday, October 3rd, to that of Mahatma Gandhi , October 2nd. Aria is derived from the Hebrew word for lion . She spent her childhood and early adolescence in her native Denver. Her mother Joyce, who is a singer herself and who had sung in her youth in opening acts for Stevie Wonder and Al Green concerts , and father Ralph (a former professional basketball player) promoted her daughter's musical talent from an early age. She received lessons on saxophone , clarinet , flugelhorn and trumpet . Like many children from devout African American families, she also sang in the church choir of her congregation (see also Gospel ). Ultimately, she chose the guitar as the instrument that best suited her - mainly because she could also sing while playing. When India Arie was 13, her mother moved to Atlanta , Georgia, with her and her brother after divorcing her husband . After high school she attended the Savannah College of Art and Design , where she studied music and jewelry design. Before graduating from college, she dropped out of college to devote herself to music.

Together with others she founded the artist collective Groovement / Earthseed , and there were performances at Lilith Fair concerts (a series of concerts primarily by female artists who held festivals in many major US cities from 1997 to 1999) in St. Louis and Nashville . At the same time she managed to establish herself in the Atlantean music scene and in 1999 she was finally signed to Motown .

At the beginning of her professional career, she changed the spelling of her name to India Arie . The point, as she says, is supposed to make the name more memorable.

Oeuvre

In Lokeren 2004

India Arie names Stevie Wonder as the most important musical influence , to whom she also dedicated the song Wonderful on her first album. She was also heavily influenced by artists such as Donny Hathaway , Bonnie Raitt , Oleta Adams , Stevie Ray Vaughan , James Taylor and George Benson .

India Arie's debut album, Acoustic Soul , was released in 2001 . The songs, all original compositions, mainly show influences from soul and blues , but also hip-hop . It is thus in the new tradition of Nu Soul , which has been popularized by artists such as D'Angelo and Erykah Badu since the 1990s and which has also produced musicians such as Alicia Keys , Angie Stone , Jill Scott and Musiq . In the USA, Acoustic Soul achieved double platinum status (more than two million CD / LPs sold) and was nominated for seven Grammys . In doing so, she managed to reach a large audience with quite demanding texts and without the otherwise usual game with the sex appeal of female artists ( Don't need your silicone, I prefer my own. What God gave me is just fine ). In 2001 she also played in the opening act for Sade's US tour .

The second album followed in 2002, Voyage to India , on which she also worked as a co-producer alongside Kedar Massenburg (President of Motown Records and already producer of her first album). At the Grammy Awards 2003 she won the Grammy in the category "Best R&B Album" and for Little Things in the category "Best Urban / Alternative Song". Musically, their second album is also in the tradition of soul, blues and hip-hop. The lyrics correspond to her self-image as a singer-songwriter, as it can also be found in blues and hip-hop: the expression of personal thoughts, feelings and everyday experiences, of personal relationships about the racism that African-Americans suffered and still have to endure, up to a deep spirituality.

In 2005 she played the jointly composed piece A Time to Love with Stevie Wonder on his album of the same name.

In 2010 Herbie Hancock brought India Arie to interpret the title track of his Imagine Project alongside Pink and Seal - Imagine by John Lennon .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
2001	Acoustic soul	DE50 (9 weeks) DE	CH85 (6 weeks) CH	UK55 gold (14 weeks)UK	US10 × 2 Double platinum (75 weeks)US
2002	Voyage to India	DE90 (1 week) DE	CH53 (3 weeks) CH	UK82 silver (3 weeks)UK	US6th platinum (32 weeks)US
2006	Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship	DE58 (5 weeks) DE	CH25 (7 weeks) CH	-	US1 gold (20 weeks)US
2009	Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics	-	CH44 (2 weeks) CH	-	US3 (21 weeks) US
2013	Song versation	-	-	-	US7 (9 weeks) US
2015	Christmas with Friends	-	-	-	US107 (4 weeks) US	with Joe Sample
2019	Worthy	-	-	-	US152 (1 week) US

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
2001	Video acoustic soul	UK32 (5 weeks) UK	US47 (31 weeks) US
	Brown Skin Acoustic Soul	UK29 (2 weeks) UK	-
2002	Little Things Acoustic Soul	UK62 (1 week) UK	US89 (13 weeks) US
2006	I Am Not My Hair Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship	UK65 (4 weeks) UK	US97 (1 week) US	feat. Akon
	The Heart of the Matter Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship	UK79 (1 week) UK	-	Chart entry in UK only in 2008
2007	Beautiful Flower Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics	-	US56 (1 week) US

More singles

• 2001: Strength, Courage and Wisdom
• 2001: Ready for Love
• 2002: Can I Walk with You
• 2003: The Truth
• 2003: Get It Together
• 2005: Purify Me
• 2006: There's Hope
• 2008: Chocolate High (feat. Musiq Soulchild )
• 2009: Therapy ( feat.Gramps Morgan )
• 2009: He Heals Me
• 2012: 6th Avenue
• 2013: Cocoa Butter

Guest Posts

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		CH
2010	While My Guitar Gently Weeps	CH46 (2 weeks) CH	Santana feat. India Arie & Yo-Yo Ma

Video albums

• 2003: Music in High Places: India Arie - Live in Brazil

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE CH UK US
2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US

Web links

Commons : India.Arie  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• nyrock.com interview in the New York rock online magazine (English)