India Arie
Template:Infobox musical artist 2 India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), professionally known as India.Arie, is a two-time Grammy Award-winning American soul, (neo soul) and R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and Flautist.
Biography
India.Arie was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents Joyce and Ralph. Her mother Joyce was a former singer ( Joyce was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green [1] ) and is now her stylist. Her father is former ABA and NBA basketball player Ralph Simpson. She has a older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Arie's mother moved the family to Georgia. Arie had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing."When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul.
Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music collective GroovmentEarthseed (Groovement was the collective artists' name and Earthseed was their independent label name), her one-song on a locally released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the Lilith Fair. In 1999 a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg.
Musical career
Acoustic Soul (2001)
Sidestepping all the devices of flavor-of-the-month record-making, Acoustic Soul acquainted listeners with a brave and eloquent new voice. The album drew an uncommonly broad swath of listeners from lovers of hip-hop, the so-called nu soul, blues, folk, and classic troubadour-style singer/songwriting, all at once.
Acoustic Soul was released in March 2001 and debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, Acoustic Soul was certified double Platinum. As a capstone to the album's success, India.Arie had the distinction of having the most total Grammy Award nominations of any single artist that year. Fans and peers alike were stunned when she was not awarded a Grammy Award in any of the nominated categories. Nonetheless, Arie stole the spotlight by closing the ceremony with a brave performance of her song "Video", accompanied only by herself on guitar.
Voyage to India (2002)
India.Arie followed the success of her debut in 2002 with the release of Voyage to India. It debuting at number six on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart. Voyage To India earned two Grammy Awards in 2003 for "Best R&B Album" and Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for the song Little Things. Soon after its release, Voyage to India was certified Platinum.
Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (2006)
India.Arie's third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, was released on June 27, 2006. It gave India.Arie her first number-one on the Billboard 200 and was her second chart topper on the R&B chart. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in thirty-three years since Diana Ross's 1972 Lady Sings the Blues. Its first-week sales of 161,000 copies is Arie's best sales week to date and was certified Gold in August 2006. She is expected to release Testimony: Vol. 2, Love and Politics in 2007.
Collaborations
- Arie dueted with John Mellencamp on the song "Peaceful World" for his 2001 album Cuttin' Heads.
- Arie dueted with jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson on the song "Just Another Parade" for her album Belly of the Sun.
- On the September 12 2005 premiere of The Tyra Banks Show, Arie performed Just 4 2day, a song she wrote especially for Tyra's show. She also performed "What About the Child", a song that did not air but was made available as a one-dollar Internet download to support child victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.[2]
- India.Arie is also featured on Stevie Wonder's album A Time to Love, released on October 18, 2005. India.Arie and Stevie Wonder duet on the title track "A Time to Love", written by Arie, which was nominated for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
- Arie dueted with Sergio Mendes on the title song "Timeless" for his February 2006 album Timeless (Sergio Mendes album).
- Arie performed the vocals for "It Might Be You" on Dave Koz's album At the Movies
- Arie collaborated with Akon for her song "I am not my hair." On an April 16th episode of Oprah entitled "after Imus, now what?" Arie guest-starred as a panelist. She stated that she wasn't completely crazy about the duet partner, but the label suggested that it would make the album more commercial. Versions without Akon on the song are currently available on on the iTunes music store.
Grammy Awards history
| Year | Category | Genre | Recording | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Record of the Year" | General | "Video" | Nominated |
| "Album of the Year" | General | Acoustic Soul | Nominated | |
| "Song of the Year" | General | "Video" | Nominated | |
| "Best New Artist" | General | — | Nominated | |
| "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" | R&B | "Video" | Nominated | |
| "Best R&B Song" | R&B | "Video" | Nominated | |
| "Best R&B Album" | R&B | Acoustic Soul | Nominated | |
| 2003 | "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" | Pop | "The Christmas Song" (with Stevie Wonder) | Nominated |
| "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" | R&B | "Little Things" | Won | |
| "Best R&B Song" | R&B | "Good Man" | Nominated | |
| "Best R&B Album" | R&B | Voyage to India | Won | |
| 2006 | "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" | Pop | "A Time to Love" (Stevie Wonder featuring India.Arie) | Nominated |
| 2007 | "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" | R&B | "I Am Not My Hair" | Nominated |
| "Best R&B Song" | R&B | "I Am Not My Hair" | Nominated | |
| "Best R&B Album" | R&B | Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship | Nominated |
Discography
Albums
| Cover | Information |
|---|---|
|
Acoustic Soul |
| File:VoyagetoIndiaArie.jpg | Voyage to India
|
|
Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship |
|
Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. dance | UK | |||
| 2001 | "Video" | 47 | 45 | — | 32 | Acoustic Soul |
| "Brown Skin" | — | 39 | — | 29 | ||
| "Strength, Courage & Wisdom" | — | 76 | — | — | ||
| "Ready for Love" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002 | "Little Things" | 89 | 33 | — | 62 | Voyage to India |
| 2003 | "Can I Walk with You" | — | — | — | — | |
| "The Truth" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Get It Together" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | "Purify Me" | — | 53 | — | — | Diary of a Mad Black Woman soundtrack |
| 2006 | "I Am Not My Hair" (featuring Akon) | 97 | 47 | 14 | 65 | Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship |
| "The Heart of the Matter" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "There's Hope" | — | 33 | — | — | ||
References
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HST/is_5_6/ai_n6192628/print
- ^ "Tyra Banks & India.Arie". iAmplify. December 8, 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
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External links
- Official website
- "I am not my hair" w/o Akon on itunes
- India Arie on Savvymiss.com
- India Arie The Unofficial website
- India Arie Offical Myspace
- India.Arie on Motown Records website
- Template:Amg
- India.Arie at IMDb
- HoneySoul audio interview
- TheCelebrityCafe.com interview
- MP3.com interview
- India.Arie review on UnRated magazine
- Arie performing Just 4 2day on Tyra Banks Show.
- 1975 births
- African-American singer-songwriters
- American female guitarists
- American female singers
- American flautists
- American record producers
- American rhythm and blues guitarists
- American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
- American soul musicians
- Colorado musicians
- Feminist artists
- Grammy Award winners
- Living people
- Motown artists
- Neo soul singers
- People from Denver