Self-Care
India.Arie Is Not Your Average Girl, And That’s Why We Love Her
Twenty-five years since the release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul, India.Arie’s music continues to give us strength, courage and wisdom
Lyne Lucien
When we first saw and heard India Arie Simpson (the artist known as India.Arie) in the music video for her first single, “Video,” we took notice of her radiant, deep skin tone and long locs, dressed boho chic-ly in a bright yellow crop top and flower-painted jeans, and toting an acoustic guitar – and many of us could identify with her.
“I’m not the average girl from your video. And I ain’t built like a supermodel. But I learned to love myself unconditionally. Because I am a queen,” she sang in the chorus.
That breakout song from her Grammy-nominated debut album, Acoustic Soul, became an anthem for Black women, emphasizing that our shine can’t be diminished if we believe in ourselves and that our self-worth isn’t based on Eurocentric standards of beauty.
Since then, India.Arie has stayed true to herself as an ancestrally grounded and spiritually attuned sister who embraces her melanin, her curves and the versatility of her natural hair, whether she’s rocking locs, twists, braids, an Afro or a low cut.
“Growing up, I looked different, I dressed differently, I liked different music. I was made to feel that I wasn’t as good because of that. But it never occurred to me to change,” the Denver native told the Colorado Music Experience.
As an artist, India. Arie has given voice to our collective healing, and that’s why many of her soulfully sincere and soothing songs, like “Brown Skin,” “Ready For Love,” “Get It Together,” and “Strength, Courage & Wisdom,” affirm us and resonate deeply with us.
Let’s take a closer look at the bright light that is India.Arie, and give her her flowers.
She don’t need no Hollywood
India.Arie honed her musical chops at the Savannah College of Art and Design and was discovered by Motown in 1999, when she was part of Atlanta’s indie soul scene.
Unlike the airy and jazzy vocals of her neo-soul predecessors Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, India has a folk-soul sound anchored by her acoustic guitar, and she sings in an effortlessly lilting, velvety smooth, deeper register that is more akin to the male crooners she gives a shout out on Acoustic Soul’s “Intro” – Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. There are also shades of Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor, who are among her influences as a singer and songwriter.
“My favorite songs always have a musical and an emotional honesty to them, and all my favorite musicians write songs that sound like they’re straight from the heart,” India.Arie said in a conversation with Grammy.com. “The song might make you think, or dance, or cry, or all three at once. But you feel something.”
Both India.Arie and Alicia Keys dropped their debut albums in 2001 – Acoustic Soul and Songs in A Minor, respectively. Both ladies made great first impressions and gave us timeless music. But their career trajectories were vastly different from the beginning.
In 2002, India was nominated for seven Grammys, but she lost in every category, including the coveted Grammy for Best New Artist, which went to Keys, who won five Grammys that year. That snub still has some sisters crying colorism.
Get the Must-Read Newsletter That Celebrates Black Women
Sign up for the free weekly newsletter with the latest stories, expert advice, community updates, and more.
“India should have been just as successful commercially as Norah Jones or Alicia Keys, but because of colorism and her ethnocentric image, she was ignored by the masses,” one fan commented on social media.
Another wrote, “I also preferred India, and it was clearly a light skin bias at that time…I believe India.Arie would have had a much bigger career had it not been two queens against each other, where only one could survive.”
While her Grammy losses gained her more publicity and record sales, being pitted against Keys and the lack of validation from her peers fed her impostor syndrome.
“All I felt was, maybe I’m not meant to have all of that. Maybe that’s just not how I’m built… I wasn’t the prom queen, I wasn’t this, I wasn’t that. Why would everybody want to give me all these awards? … Doesn’t even sound like something that would be my life,” India.Arie told Oprah.
She added, “I was scared of failing and I was scared of succeeding. I just wanted to be in a safe space and not grow too big or be too little.”
Fortunately, India.Arie silenced her negative self-talk, and in 2003, she gained the recognition she sought, winning two Grammys for her sophomore album, Voyage to India. But the catchy lead single “Little Things” reflected a shift in her priorities.
In the song’s outro, she sings: “Give me my guitar, give me a bright star. Give me some good news, give me some cute shoes. Give me Atlanta, give me Savannah. Give me my peace of my mind. Give me some Stevie, give me some Donny…give me my Mommy. Pour me some sweet tea, spoonful of honey. I don’t need no Hollywood.”
She’s done things her way and inspired younger artists
The four-time Grammy winner’s music offers a road map to self-love, and a few highlights of her musical journey so far include: “I Am Not My Hair” from 2006’s Testimony, Volume 1: Life & Relationship; “There’s Hope,” which President Obama used during his 2008 campaign; “Chocolate High,” her duet with Musiq Soulchild from 2009’s Testimony, Volume 2: Love & Politics; and “I Am Light” from 2013’s SongVersation.
India’s conviction in individuality over conformity has inspired new artists. You can clearly hear her imprint in 36-year-old British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas. The guitar-strumming goddesses even shared a stage in 2013.
“If I could imagine the perfect voice, it’s somewhere between hers and Lauryn Hill’s. But I felt like India’s voice was closer to the way that I wanted to sound – it was so low and gravelly and gorgeous. I met her once and she was amazing,” La Havas said in an interview.
Chance the Rapper has also acknowledged her influence. The 32-year-old Chicago rapper sampled “Video” on his song “Tree,” and dedicated it to his Mom, whom he described in an interview with MTV as a free spirit and an India.Arie fan.
“[India] was probably one of my biggest inspirations. She was always kind of an outlier in terms of being really truthful and being really vulnerable,” he said.
When asked in a radio interview about the most influential neo-soul artists, “Folded” singer Kehlani sang India’s praises.
“Why do people leave her out of that four? Because we always go, ‘Jill, Lauryn, Erykah,’ but then we forget India,” the 30-year-old replied.
India.Arie reposted Kehlani’s interview on Instagram, and she gushed in the comments: “I love you! I adore you! You have given so much! You gave us confidence, grace, real love, blueprints on walking with God… I WILL GIVE U FLOWERS TILL THE DAY I’M GONE.”
She is worthy, and so are we
At age 50 India.Arie seems even more comfortable and confident in her skin. If you glance at her Instagram profile, where she has over a million followers, you’ll find her dressed in white from head to toe singing and chanting accompanied by drums, tuning forks and singing bowls. Instead of keeping a hectic tour schedule, she prioritizes select performances and self-care. In one post, she is stretching and swaying with ocean waves in her healing, happy place, Hawaii.
“I feel most at home in Hawaii. There are a lot of different energies in Hawaii. It represents a lot of different climates in the world on all the islands, [it] just depends on where you go. But I really like the green parts of Hawaii. Rainbows every day. It’s so me,” she said in an interview.
Musically, she hasn’t skipped a beat. India continues to soothe us softly with her songs. In 2019, she released her aptly titled seventh studio album, Worthy, which gave us the grown-and-sexy “Steady Love.”
“I wanted to remind people that even though the world ordains that you have to ‘do’ or ‘be’ something to be ‘worthy,’ that’s not true,” she said in an interview.
“The truth is there is nothing special we have to do or be, we all are worthy once we arrive at that realization. A person who feels empowered in that way is a much more powerful force in this world.”
More from Sisters
More for you, from AARP
We are a community from AARP. Discover more ways AARP can help you live well, navigate life, save money — and protect older Americans on issues that matter.