It's a 3 part combination:

1 - Yes, let's be real here, there are tons of people who are caught up in the hues of us. The whole "White is right" syndrome.

2 - India is deeper than Alicia - and let's be real once again - most of the music-buying public isn't deep, especially the teeny-boppers, so Alicia will appeal to a broader audience.

3 - Radio stations don't play the Organic/Neo Soul types, so there's part of the problem right there; no one gets to hear India as much as they get to hear Alicia.

StoneCrib said:

This is probably true now, but when India & Alicia came out the radio was all over Musiq, Jill Scott, India, & the neos. In fact, Alicia's kind of neo-soul herself.

I still say it's because Alicia has more star quality and she's more dynamic with a bigger voice and flashier style.

NDRU said:

Yeah, but Alicia has more Hup Hop/R&B sound than organic/neo.

NDRU said:

Yeah. Chicks don't dig his looks at all.
They put him on those 100 Most Attractive Celebs lists for his talent.

BlaqueKnight said:

I know his fans think he's sexy, but I think non-fans think he's weird & ugly--at best intriguing.

He's not exactly Denzel or Brad Pitt People Magazine type of sexy. I've never seen him on any 100 most attractive list myself outside of this website.

StoneCrib said:

true, same with Badu, though hers is pretty organic, too
[Edited 7/3/06 12:09pm]

isn't she already popular, i think the threadstarter meant more succesful, because india arie is popular, since over a million people know of her.

blackguitaristz said:

I had said such things for years, that thread and the lack of responses on the India threads made me start this one.

StoneCrib said:

I have said it before....India in my opinion, is just doing what Ms. Badu has all ready done. Badu started that stlye of music long before India. If you asked me, India is just afraid of letting go. Whenever I see her perform, it looks as if she is trying to fit in. Alicia, on the other hand, seems more personable....More comfortable within her own skin and she is not afraid to let herself go and just be....like Ms. Badu. India just looks like she is afraid to take that leap for fear of failing. This shows in her personality as well as in her music.
[Edited 7/4/06 9:23am]

shorttrini said:

I didn't get that at all when I saw her open up for Sade years ago. She was very playful onstage. She smiled a lot more than I thought she would as well.

shorttrini said:

Which is probably a direct result from the topic of this thread.

StoneCrib said:

I do not think that color has as much to do with it as does their personality. The same could be said for Amel Laru, ( I hope that I spelled it correctly). She is light skinned and in my opinion not as loose as Alicia or Jill but as boring as India. While they do not lack in talent, they lack in personality as well as stage presence. It is as if they feel like they have something to prove and is so busy trying to prove it, that they come across as stiff and as dry as hell.

shorttrini said:

Which reverts back to my 2nd and 3rd reasons:

2 - India is deeper than Alicia - and let's be real once again - most of the music-buying public isn't deep, especially the teeny-boppers, so Alicia will appeal to a broader audience.

3 - Radio stations don't play the Organic/Neo Soul types, so there's part of the problem right there; no one gets to hear India as much as they get to hear Alicia.

shorttrini said:

I think you have stiff and dry confused with subtle when it comes to Amel Larrieux.

Amel Larrieux reminds me of Shakara Ledard

lilgish said:

Good lord, I want that!

shorttrini said:

Wow! I feel exactly the opposite. The only real similarities I see with Erykah and India are the head wraps. Other than being "neo soul," I don't see anything similar in their music. Could you imagine India singing "Next Lifetime"? "Tyrone"? Erykah doing "Interested"? "Video"? I couldn't. IMO, it is they who seem comfortable in their own skin. Alicia strikes me as someone who chooses her words carefully to always give the best impression--not to the extreme extent than Beyoncé does, but that would be impossible.

AlexdeParis said:

India's new album debuts at #1 next week in the U.S. If she wasn't as popular as Alicia before, she is now.

sextonseven said:

she sold 161,000, alicia first week sales were over 600,000 cmon, a slow week with no big artist, has India that big, she still and wont ever be as big as alicia keys

krazykid18 said:

Alicia's last album debuted at #1 with 195,000 copies sold.

sextonseven said:

that was a live LP, cmon don't throw bullshit, Alica Keys last studio LP is Diary which sold over 600,000, cmon stop the bullshit

krazykid18 said:

Damn, why so angry?

I was just comparing first week sales from their last albums. It isn't my fault Alicia chose to release a live album last.

krazykid18 said:

But India will always be more talented

StoneCrib said:

Yeah, but India makes a point to show how she doesn't fit the mold and how it doesn't matter because she eschews "the biz as it is." So her music feeds off of this sense of being ostracized for her skin tone and musical style, real though it may be.

If her music was more dumbed down and poppy with lots of guest rappers and lyrics like "i got what you want, i got what you need" etc she would be more popular. Nothing to do with color. End of story.

namepeace said:

It's no different than the repetitiveness of other artists rapping about getting Pussy and Money and Killing and hell, Love.

StoneCrib said:

I know. Problem is, the media expects rappers to keep rapping about MoneyCashHoes.

When india keeps singing about the intracies of her life, and rejecting conventional attitudes of beauty and success, her supporters (at least in the media) she's seen as self-indulgent, self-centered, self-righteous, etc.

Wonder why that is.

namepeace said:

Exactly.

namepeace said:

I almost asked why people are labelling her as such on this thread just because of the title of the album. People can really jump to conclusions, can't they? I mean the woman is strong & proud & wonderful - somehow that gets translated into something negative