finetune artist: India Arie

b. 3 October 1975, Denver, Colorado, USA. This Atlanta, Georgia, USA-based singer-songwriter made an immediate impact on the neo-soul scene with the release of her debut Acoustic Soul in March 2001. Her parents named her India in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, with her mother adding Arie (Hebrew for "lion"). The singer later added the web-style dot to give her name "an aesthetic flow'. The family moved to Atlanta when India was 13. She first started playing guitar while studying jewellery making at Savannah College of Art and Design, and gradually became involved in the local urban music scene, helping form the artist's collective Groovement/Earthseed. Her first songs appeared on the collective's independently released CD, leading to an invitation to play on several southern legs of 1998"s Lilith Fair tour. A recording contract with Motown Records, which gave the singer complete artistic control over her music, was signed the following year. She spent the next two years working on her debut album, although "In My Head" created a buzz when it was featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lee's Bamboozled in September 2000. Acoustic Soul saw India.Arie heralded alongside contemporary black female singer-songwriters such as Meshell Ndegocello, Tracy Chapman and Dionne Farris.

Listen to India Arie at Finetune.

(2008) Chocolate High
(2008) Therapy
(2007) Acoustic Soul - Special Edition
(2006) Testimony: Vol. 1 Life & Relationship
(2001) Acoustic Soul

Ready For Love
Brown Skin
Video
I Am Not My Hair
Beautiful