India Arie
India Arie |
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India.Arie (born India Arie Simpson on October 3 1975) is a Grammy Award winning American soul, R&B, and neo soul singer-songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and flautist.
Early years
Arie was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she 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 an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Arie's mother moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia when she was thirteen.[2] 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, in Savannah, 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 Groovement EarthShare (Groovement was the collective artists' name and EarthShare was their independent label name), her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the 1998 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)
Acoustic Soul was released on March 27, 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, selling 2.18 million copies in the U.S. and 3 million worldwide. As a capstone to the album's success, Arie had the distinction of having the most total Grammy Award nominations of any single artist that year. She was not awarded a Grammy Award in any of the nominated categories, losing five of her seven nominations to Alicia Keys (who tied the record for most wins in one night by a female artist by winning five awards), one, Album of the Year to O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and one, Record of the Year to "Walk On" by U2. She closed the ceremony with a performance of her song "Video", accompanied only by herself on the guitar.
Voyage to India (2002)
Arie followed the success of her debut on 24 September 2002 with the release of Voyage to India. Debuting at number six on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart, it eventually earned her two Grammy Awards in 2003—"Best R&B Album" and Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for the song "Little Things". Soon after its release, Voyage to India was certified platinum selling 1.4 million copies in the U.S. and 2.2 million worldwide.
Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (2006)
Arie's third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, was released on June 27, 2006. It gave Arie her first number-one spot on the Billboard 200 and was her second chart-topper on the R&B chart. Diana Ross is the only other Motown solo female artist to have earned the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in twelve years since Boyz II Men' 1994 II. Its first-week sales of 161,000 copies are Arie's best sales week to date and was certified gold in August 2006, selling 730,000 in US and 1.3 million worldwide. "I Am Not My Hair" was the most successful release from Testimony: Vol. 1., reaching the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #97 and the UK Singles Chart at #65.
Testimony: Vol. 2 & Recent News (2008-2009)
Her acclaimed cover of Don Henley's "The Heart of the Matter" from Testimony: Vol. 1 has returned in 2008 as a feature in the trailers to the film Sex and the City: The Movie.
Her highly anticipated next album, Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics was released on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. The lead singles, "Therapy" and "Chocolate High", are now available on the iTunes Store.
"Yellow" is India's next single, and an extended version will be released to radios in April featuring both Terrell Carter and an unnamed rapper. On this version, Terrell's singing part is also extended, and will include a rap by a rapper not yet revealed. However, another remix version has been recorded featuring Akon, and Colby O'Donis will sing Terrell Carter's parts. A new verse has also been included in the Akon remix, of which Colby O'Donis has a longer part.
Collaborations
- Arie performed a duet with rock singer-guitarist John Mellencamp on the song "Peaceful World" for his 2001 album Cuttin' Heads.
- Arie performed a duet with jazz singer Cassandra Wilson on the song "Just Another Parade" for her 2002 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 little child victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.[3]
- Arie is also featured on Stevie Wonder's album A Time to Love, released on October 18 2005. Arie and 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. Three years earlier, their rendition of Mel Tormé's 1944 classic "The Christmas Song", recorded for the holiday TV commercial for retailer Target, had been nominated for the same category, making it the first song created and financed exclusively for a commercial to be nominated for a Grammy Award.[4]
- Arie performed a duet with Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes on the title song "Timeless" for his 2006 album Timeless.
- Arie performed the vocals for "It Might Be You" on Dave Koz's 2007 album At the Movies.
- Arie collaborated with Akon for her song "I Am Not My Hair". On the April 16, 2007 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show 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 the iTunes Store.
- Arie performed the song "She Is" for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, inspired by the PBS Independent Lens documentary Iron Ladies of Liberia.
- Arie performed a duet with singer Anthony David for his song "Words" for his 2008 album Acey Duecy.
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 | |
| 2008 | "Best R&B Song" | R&B | "Beautiful Flower" | Nominated |
| 2009 | "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group w/ Vocals" | R&B | "Words" feat. Anthony David | Nominated |
Discography
Albums
- 2001: Acoustic Soul
- 2002: Voyage to India
- 2006: Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship
- 2009: 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" | 109 | 39 | — | 29 | ||
| "Strength, Courage & Wisdom" | — | 76 | — | — | ||
| "Ready for Love" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Peaceful World" (with John Mellencamp) | 104 | — | — | — | Cuttin' Heads | |
| 2002 | "Little Things" | 89 | 33 | — | 62 | Voyage to India |
| 2003 | "Can I Walk with You" | — | — | — | — | |
| "The Truth" | — | 105 | — | — | ||
| "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" | — | — | — | 79* | ||
| "There's Hope" | 105 | 33 | — | — | ||
| 2007 | "Beautiful Flower" | 56 | — | — | — | — |
| 2008 | "Words" (Anthony David featuring India.Arie) | — | 53 | — | — | Acey Duecy |
| "Chocolate High" (feat. Musiq Soulchild) | — | 41 | — | — | Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics | |
| 2009 | "Therapy" (feat. Gramps Morgan) | — | — | — | — | |
| "Yellow" (feat. Terrell Carter & unnamed rapper) | — | — | — | — | ||
- "The Heart of the Matter" charted on the UK Singles Chart on 1 June 2008, based on download sales alone, due to the release of the Sex and the City: The Movie soundtrack.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "The soul of a songwriter: India.Arie talks about reading, writing and stoking her creative fires". Black Issues Book Review. September–October 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ "India.Arie MTV biography". MTV. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ^ "Tyra Banks & India.Arie". iAmplify. December 8 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Brian McKnight, Marc Anthony & More On Stevie Wonder Tribute Collection". Spotlight on R&B. February 9 2003. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
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External links
- 1975 births
- African American female singer-songwriters
- American female guitarists
- American flautists
- American record producers
- American rhythm and blues guitarists
- American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
- American soul singers
- American vegans
- Musicians from Colorado
- English-language singers
- Feminist artists
- Grammy Award winners
- Living people
- Motown Records artists
- Neo soul singers
- People from Atlanta, Georgia
- People from Denver, Colorado
- People from Savannah, Georgia