There's a few new light skin jump offs Corinne Bailey Rae and Susan Cagle that I see getting promo, I hear those albums are good. India Arie does the same kinda music.




Why isn't India Arie as big as Alicia Keys? They make the same boring ass music. I think India has better songs. Is there another reason besides skin color that India isnt a major star?

Standards of beauty in general. Janet ain't light-skinned.

india arie is boring and VERY pretentious, which gets noone anywhere. alicia keys and corinne bailey rae are neither. and better songs? please. fallin and you dont know my name (as well quite a few other songs) are better than anything india arie has ever done or probably ever will do. look at "diary" which was one of the lesser tracks on that album and which sounds a lot like india arie; that would have been a standout track on an india arie album.

lauryn hill is pretty dark (though not as african-looking as india arie) and was a supermegasuperstar for a while back whenever it was she released music
[Edited 6/28/06 11:05am]
[Edited 6/28/06 11:05am]

theghostoftonym said:

Alicia Keys isn't boring? I'd rather listen to Arie any day over Alicia Keys.

the only time india arie hasnt been boring was that first single "radio" or whatever that she released, which was just annoying as fuck rather than boring

her first album put me to sleep. that "voyage to india" shit put me in a coma

theghostoftonym said:

I just can't handle Alicia Keys. There's always been something about her that seems so fake to me. I've never seen her live, and that's why. I'm just not interested. I did see India live however, and I found it to be a really interesting show, although nothing mindblowing or anything. She just seemed really "real" to me.

lilgish said:

There is one big thing that Keys has that India does NOT have. The Big $$ machine that is Clive Davis.

theghostoftonym said:

WTF? hell naw

I just like hearing a woman play the piano. Alicia Keys, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Nellie McKay, Regina Spektor... I eat that stuff up.

I like hearing women play guitar too, but I listened to India's first album and it didn't do anything for me. Maybe if she rocked harder I would like her more.

I really don't like Alicia, but I'm not surprised she's the bigger star. She's more dynamic to me, and her style is more mainstream. She has a bigger voice, and flashy piano player, not to mention has cool braids, and acts sexier.

I'm not too excited by India Arie either. She's okay, and I like her more than Alicia personally.

I don't know Susan Cagle, but she looks kind of different than India's style, more rock.

minneapolisgenius said:

Something else we don't have in common.

The next time we see each other, we are only allowed to listen to glam rock.

Adisa said:

Well, Janet ain't exactly blue/black either. Having said that I don't think India is any darker than Lauryn Hill and Lauryn got a lot of props back in the 90s, so I doubt if shade has much to do with anything..Sometimes I believe it's more to do with the type of music. In general India music seems less mainstream than others..

theghostoftonym said:

Let me guess...you're 16, right?

Huh. If India were lighter, she wouldn't be India. And, we'd be the lesser for it.

Hers is a different kind of light to shine, and she shines it well.

I think india tries too hard at times to show she's down-to-earth, not your typical star, only interested in the "little things" (a fantastic song, btw.) But those are personal opinions. She's a good writer and has a good production team behind her.

But I see your point. If she had less melanin she'd likely have more video appeal, therefore more mass appeal.

That being said, Res and Amel Larreiux are lighter, but they didn't get the kind of push Alicia did. But the media have their darlings among black musicians, and india, Res, Amel, Ledisi, etc. are not among them.

About two-and-a-half decades ago, the media anointed another fair-skinned brother who could play a few chords the next big thing. And he was. Others didn't make it. That's the bizness.

Graycap23 said:

That's the biggest reason for Alicia's success right there.

What...Are you kidding? I haven't read all the comments but when I first saw this thread I already had a response.

India Arie is very hippie when it comes to her music and fashion. Alicia is a lot more pop (and doing collobrative his like "Gansta Lovin" doesn't hurt) so of course she is more popular. I don't think it's her skin color that makes her unpopular but her music, which is enjoyable but Top 40 isn't going to embrace her for three albums...let alone two! I don't have albums from either of them but I'm tempted to buy India's new one. Her new single is very good. As for Corinne, she is a flavor of the month that had a huge hit in Britian, so the album is kind of being sold like an independent (the price indicates that) but on a major label. She might break through but I'm not sure.
[Edited 6/28/06 13:11pm]

sextonseven said:

I know.

Fine by me!

Bolan was SORT of a girl.

StoneCrib said:

yeah clearly it must mean if someone actually prefers music that's widely popular over pretentious neo-soul starbucks bullshit it must mean they're 16. please. if this was 1984 you'd be dismissing purple rain as the music of 16 year olds and championing rick james' latest "street songs" rehash or some shit. get off

and yeah, she's pretentious. singing "i'm not the average girl from your video, my worth is not determined by the price of my clothes" is pretentious. calling your album "voyage to india" is pretentious. calling yourself india DOT arie is pretentious. she's pretentious.

sextonseven said:

arista dont get you anywhere unless you have any good songs. anyone remember a little album called "rave un2 the joy fantastic"?
[Edited 6/28/06 13:26pm]

theghostoftonym said:

"Rave" mostly sucked.

Graycap23 said:

Thank you for telling the truth Graycap! Clive said that he wanted a younger female vocalist to take Whitney Houston's place as his top artist. And he got it with Alicia. I too prefer Indie Arie. Especially her song "Jordan" I Love it!

namepeace said:

If India Arie was light skinded would she be more popular

One way to look @ it and MANY would agree I guess.

But I think Its deeper than the "high yella/mullato vs darkie" bullshit IMO.

Biz is ONLY a reason out of countless ones.

theghostoftonym said:

Yes, and that album should have bombed even more than it did because it sucked. Clive was the only reason why that album was certified gold.

sextonseven said:

See my above post.

minneapolisgenius said:

Yep, glam rock and Prince--that's how we get along.

India Arie's music bores me, not her skin color.....

i'd listen to Alicia Keys over her any day....at least I wouldn't be falling asleep where i stand.....

theghostoftonym said:

Totally DIFFERENT contract with Prince. No way they had the same BUDGET as with an OWNED artist like Keys.

theghostoftonym said

:

No, it's just ridiculously obvious that you aren't familiar with India's music. I'm willing to bet your ISP payment that you don't own ANY of India's albums. Try "Voyage To India" and then you will HOPEFULLY understand that the sista can write insightful lyrics. But what's funny as fuck is how you sit there and try and pump up Alicia's "lyrical prowess" when her shit is pretty sophomoric, that's why I assume you're not too mature or older than 17.

Alicia's 1st album was so bubble-gum that it ain't even funny. "I think I'm jealous of your girlfriend" - what kinda shit is that? Alicia fooled us with "Fallen" becuase we thought here's a young sista with an old soul but the rest of her album was pretty much high scool shit.

Some people need to learn about music before they show up here.

Graycap23 said:

whether it was a one album contract or not, arista threw everything they had at rave. it flopped because it was shit. alicia didnt because she isn't.

StoneCrib said:

i bought both of her first two albums (at the same time). i have not heard her new album. and i never said anything about her lyrics other than that they're too often pretentious. india's lyrics are probably better than alicia's (hardly bob dylan though...still pretty immature and simplistic, just more wordy and pretentious). but alicia's SONGS are a lot better than india's. i'd have thought someone on a prince board would have known a song can still be great even if it has overly simplistic lyrics (partyup? take me with u? musicology? shall i go on?). call the emotional stance of alicia's stuff high school all you want, it's not important; "pet sounds" was pretty high school too

and drop the superiority bullshit. i can pretty much guarantee you i know more "about music" than you'll ever know, and have heard more music than you've ever heard. trust me on this one.
[Edited 6/28/06 14:19pm]

theghostoftonym said:[quote]

Graycap23 said:

Oh good Lord.