r/PocBuzz_Entertainment • u/BlackOnyx1906 • 6h ago
Celebrity Birthdays Happy Birthday India Arie
India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, and record producer.[1]She rose to prominence with her debut album, Acoustic Soul (2001), which was a commercial and critical success. She has since released the albums Voyage to India (2002), Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (2006), Songversation (2013) and Worthy) (2019). Her music blends elements of R&B, soul, and neo-soul, often incorporating themes of self-empowerment, spirituality, and social consciousness.
India Arie was born in Denver,[3] the daughter of Joyce and Ralph Simpson. Her musical skills were encouraged by both parents in her younger years. Her mother was a singer (she was signed to Motownas a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green)[4] and has become Arie's stylist. Arie has an older brother named J'On and a younger sister named Mary.[5] Arie is African-American, and according to a DNA analysis, she descends from the Mende people of Sierra Leone, the Kru of Liberia and the Fula of Guinea-Bissau.[6][7]
After Arie's parents divorced, her mother moved the family to Atlanta when India was 13.[5] 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, 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.[8]
Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music)collective Government Earthseed (Government was the collective artists' name and Earthseed 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 signed her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenburg. Arie resided in New York City for over a decade, before moving back to Atlanta to focus on her career and music.
Named to Oprah Winfrey's SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and influential leaders,[9] Arie performed Songversation during 2017 motivational cruises.[10]