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The New York Times
September 22, 2002

India.Arie: A Soul Singer With a Vision of Beauty
By ANTHONY DeCURTIS


It's not often you see the swaggering Eminem thrown off his game. But when he bumped into the soul singer India.Arie backstage at BET's after-school show, "106 and Park: Top Ten Live" one afternoon last month, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Eminem's homophobic, misogynistic and violent rap lyrics have made him the scourge of the P.T.A. and the politically correct. Ms. Arie's spiritual ballads and anthems of self-esteem have made her a beacon for those who believe that popular music must be an agent for positive change. Now, unexpectedly, they were face to face — and Eminem suddenly looked like a schoolboy caught smoking behind the gym by the principal.

Ms. Arie broke the silence. "I think you're brilliant," she said, resting her hand on Eminem's arm. "We need to talk. I'd like to do something with you."

Eminem's features softened and his lips curled into a smile. "Definitely," he said. He then told Ms. Arie that he liked her debut album, "Acoustic Soul." A photographer snapped pictures of this unlikely pair, and then they each turned to leave. Suddenly Ms. Arie whirled around and called out: "Wait a minute, wait a minute! When's your birthday?"

"October 17th," Eminem said, amused.

"You're a Libra!" Ms. Arie exclaimed with a wide smile, as if a mystery had been solved. Taking her seat in the van that was transporting her and her small entourage around the city, she said: "That goes down in my book as today's information. Eminem's a Libra."

If you haven't already guessed, Ms. Arie is a Libra, too, along with Sting, John Lennon and Mahatma Gandhi, she pointed out. (The proximity of her birthday to Gandhi's is the source of Ms. Arie's first name.) And the principal characteristic of that sign is honesty, she said, a virtue Ms. Arie has in great supply.

On "Acoustic Soul," which came out last year and earned her seven Grammy nominations, Ms. Arie, who is 26, articulated a vision of African-American physical beauty that has proved inspirational to a large, passionate audience of young women. "I'm not the average girl from your video," she sang on the hit song "Video." "And I ain't built like a supermodel/ But I learned to love myself unconditionally/ Because I am a queen."

Even more tellingly, in a modern update of the 60's declaration that "Black Is Beautiful," her seductive song "Brown Skin," a tribute to a lover, was heard as a paean to black men and women whose dark coloring and broad features, like Ms. Arie's own, don't conform to white standards of beauty.

Rane, a female disc jockey for radio station WPGC in Washington, raised the issue directly with Ms. Arie in an interview backstage at rehearsals for MTV's Video Music Awards show, shortly after the singer's encounter with Eminem. "It's a lot of sisters out here who admire you," the D.J. said, "especially a lot of dark-skinned sisters. We always have this conversation at the station about chocolate sisters and how few there are in the music industry. Do you think it's been harder for you being darker than a paper bag?"

Ms. Arie laughed knowingly at the reference to an infamous measure of African-American beauty. "It might have been a hard thing for me in high school or junior high, not being the prom queen or whatever," she responded. "But I know for certain that God made us the way we're supposed to be, and I love everything about myself, the way I look, my nose, my skin."

Ms. Arie's music only further enhanced her reputation as an artist of substance; centering on her acoustic guitar and confident but restrained vocals, it recalls such soul masters as Stevie Wonder and Roberta Flack.

Ms. Arie's new album, "Voyage to India," which is to be released on Tuesday by Motown, might be considered the next chapter in the story she began to tell on "Acoustic Soul." The title is borrowed from an instrumental on Mr. Wonder's 1979 album, "Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants." And like her first album, "Voyage" combines songs of self-encouragement ("Little Things," "Slow Down"), declarations of faith ("God Is Real") and sensitive explorations of the bonds between men and women ("Talk to Her," "Can I Walk With You," "Complicated Melody").

So why, then, would this woman think Eminem is "brilliant"?

"You see, there's two different sides to that," she explained over dinner at the Candle Cafe, a funky health-food restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. "I have an opinion about his effect on minds that are young and impressionable, obviously. On the other side of it, I love great art. And loving words, rhyme schemes and stories the way that I do, Eminem is brilliant. I'm just newly realizing that about him — and Jay-Z too. I used to just think, `Those words are irresponsible, and it's not good for children.' But I'm grownup, and I can deal with it. And when you look at the art of it, it's great."

MS. ARIE is also aware that the high-mindedness of her music has created an image of her that is reserved and serious, even somewhat school-marmish. She is nothing like that in real life, however. Like her idol, Mr. Wonder, she is prone to burst into song whenever melodies float through her mind, as they often do. And when young fans approach her, as they did when she entered the lobby of MTV to do a taping earlier in the day, she outdid them in her enthusiasm. Her eyes rolling with delight, she twirled, waved her arms and danced. In her bright yellow shirt and head-wrap, she was a sight to see. "Be sure not to tell everybody I'm so silly," she playfully warned at one point. "I'm supposed to be deep." Then she laughed and shouted, "Destroy the misconception!"

Most important to Ms. Arie, clearly, is the freedom to follow her creative impulses, and that requires not being boxed in by anyone's expectations. It's part of what "Voyage" is about. When "Acoustic Soul," which has sold more than 1.6 million copies domestically, began to catch fire in the marketplace, Ms. Arie said, she had to struggle to keep a grip on herself, and her own expectations.

"The thing about last year," she said, "is that just about every day had a moment that was intense. It was just so big. Just the amount of flying I had to do — first there was none, then, after the Grammy nominations were announced, it seemed like I was on an airplane every day. It was so hectic, hard and transformational."

It was nothing like the artistic life she envisioned as she was growing up, first in Denver and then in Atlanta, where she still lives. Her father is Ralph Simpson, a former basketball player with the Denver Nuggets, but she frequently credits her mother, a stylist known professionally as Simpson, as the most decisive influence on her life. (Ms. Arie has dropped her last name; the dot between what were once her first and middle names is meant to create "a logo," she said.)

A former singer, Simpson grew up in Detroit just as Motown was beginning its reign over popular music, and she passed along her love of classic soul to her daughter. From the radio, Ms. Arie discovered artists like Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Stevie Nicks, whose various traits — social concern, writerly introspection and stylistic flair — all exerted an equally strong influence on her. Such tastes did not endear her to her peers, who were transfixed by hip-hop, and she says she spent a lot of time alone. Ms. Arie's parents divorced, but she still works closely with her mother. The two women frequently travel together, and Simpson often helps design her daughter's clothes, which combine Afro-centric flourishes, eccentric bursts of color and casual, unpretentious everyday wear.

In high school, Ms. Arie sang and studied a variety of instruments, but she didn't take up guitar until she was 21 and a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She left college in her junior year to become a songwriter, and she joined an artists' collective in Atlanta called Groovement/Earthseed. A compilation the group issued included one of her songs and brought her to the attention of the organizers of Lilith Fair, a traveling women's music festival, who booked her to perform in St. Louis and Nashville in 1998.

Ms. Raitt heard her perform and was impressed. "I felt a real affinity for her," she said. "My immediate response was that she was cutting right to the core. Even though she's beautiful, she was strong and deep. She had new things to say, and she said them in an unfettered way."

A Motown representative also saw her at Lilith Fair, and she eventually signed with the label.

Kedar Massenburg, the president and chief executive of Motown, is determined that "Voyage" bring Ms. Arie the recognition she was denied earlier this year when, after coming out of nowhere to land seven Grammy nominations, she lost in every category. He urged her to complete the album in time for release before Oct. 1, the deadline for eligibility for this year's awards. "Now she'll get her just due," Mr. Massenberg said. "As far as R & B and soul is concerned, she has no competition. There's no Alicia Keys this time. The lane is wide open."

While acknowledging her disappointment at losing, Ms. Arie says it was the fact that she wanted to win so much at the Grammys than now disturbs her the most. "At first I didn't care," she said. "Then I got caught up in it. I had never met or talked to Quincy Jones, and suddenly I'm on the phone with him and he says to me, `You know, me and Oprah were talking about you yesterday.' It showed me how much people were thinking about it."

"Then I thought, `Well, it would be nice to win because it will do good things for my career,"' she continued. Then she started laughing. "Finally, I just wanted to win — period! And that's not me. I was so mad at myself, because I ended up so hurt. I don't want to care about that kind of thing that much."

Completing "Voyage to India," she said, has returned her to the real reasons she makes music. "The heart center, that energy that's right here" — she put her hand on her chest — "that's where I sing and write from. I can cry so easily just talking about it. My heart is engaged."

Her eyes welled up, and she took a minute to collect herself. "I want my album to be something that fills up a space with good love energy," she said about her goals now. "Or fills up a person that way — where they say, `Every time I listen to that album, I feel good.' I want that. That's my wish."


Anthony DeCurtis is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone.

Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
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[This message was edited Sun Sep 22 22:11:45 PDT 2002 by NuPwrSoul]

beautiful article about a beautiful person. thanks for sharing

Thnxxx NuPwrSoul.

Love her style... she has such a way about her.

Hope he's right, because I swear if Ashanti wins over India Arie via industry politics, somebody needs 2 be smacked!
If u dig Ms. Arie, please make sure u support this next album.
PEACE

India.Arie : A Soul Singer with a Vision of Beauty ...



and decidedly dodgy taste in music it would appear, if she rates Eminem "a genius"!


I enjoyed her debut album, though at some points i felt it made a pleasant if unremarkable listen. Here's hoping her next album reflects Stevie's influence rather than that of Dr.Dre's muppet!



Eminem

I like India.Arie and I'm gonna check out her new CD.She's great!

A true class act!

DorianGray said:

Oh cmon, she's talking about a very qualified appreciation of his lyrical style, not the music. Her last album didn't reflect "Dr. Dre's muppet's" influence so why would her next one.

I just saw her perform yesterday at Golden Gate Park in SF for a music festival that was a hodge podge of artists that included Aimee Mann, Train, and The Wallflowers. She looked so exquisite in all-white, similar to the cover of her new cd. She didn't perform any news songs which was a suprise, but nonetheless, she got the mostly rock crowd feelin' her positive vibes. She sang "Simple," "Video," "Promise," "Brown Skin," and "Nature." Her set was definitely too short and she left you wanting more. She will be touring in the fall, so there's something to look forward to. I want to be optimistic about her next release. It seems all too often record companies pressure artists for a 2nd release that it ends up sounding incomplete in comparison. I've already ordered it, and truly hope that there will be lots of gems.

NuPwrSoul said:

"Oh cmon, she's talking about a very qualified appreciation of his lyrical style, not the music."



Well,it would HAVE 2 b "a VERY qualified appreciation of his lyrical style" 'cause he certainly ain't no Bob Dylan ! Her description of his lyrical ability as "brilliant" & "great art" depicts an artist of genius stature and nowadays 'genius" is a term that is banded about far 2 readily and inaccurately 4 my liking.



I scarcely think that 200 years from now Eminem's work will b considered the equal either lyrically say of Dylan's or musically of that of Duke Ellington !!



NuPwrSoul said :
" Her last album didn't reflect "Dr. Dre's muppet's" influence so why would her next one?"


Unless u r construing Indie's line,"we'll have 2 do something 2gether", as a come on (hardly likely since Eminem is about as hot as John Malkovich!), i think it's fairly safe 2 assume she is intending 2 collaborate with him at some point - a better idea from a commercial rather than artistic standpoint, i fear.


Hopefully this will not b included on her new release. With any luck she may reconsider working with him altogether! Of course, as always, this is just my opinion.