In the process of making my last four projects, I’ve been able to be empowered and not have to search for it.
But now, I just feel like it’s life and I’m ready to deal with whatever’s coming. Ten years ago, I would’ve been under the bed, afraid of what’s going to happen and all that. I moved to another state, and I surrendered to that. I surrendered to the music, and to the songs.
I learned how to surrender love when it’s time for it to be over. Maybe that’s the overall lesson of these last three years. I learned what it means to surrender, I guess. I made an album much different than anything I thought I was going to make. What “lesson” did you learn in the process of producing this album that has changed your overall state of being?
You did complete the album, but it is unlike any of your previous albums. I didn’t know if it was going to be completed or start gaining momentum. I wasn’t chomping at the bit like I had been in the past to make an album, and I didn’t have this whole stack of songs and saying, ‘Let’s get it popping and get this album done.’ But I knew that I wanted to make another album because that’s what I do, but that’s all I knew. When I started working on this album, “Worthy,” I didn’t actually know that I was going to make another album. Outside of the subject matter of the songs, I have also learned a lot about writing and producing albums for myself. The songs on this album, anyone listening to them can hear the things I’ve been thinking about. That brings this whole set of lessons, as any adult knows. Most of the time writing and recording this album, I was in a relationship, long term for me. And so, I just took it as I was learning these hard lessons. I didn’t really know what the rhythms of life were. When I was younger-in my early 20s-I came out with my first album. It’s funny, this era of recording “Worthy” is not the first time that I’ve been through a lot of hard lessons. Looking back over the last three years, what were your experiences that led to the creation of “Worthy”?
I’m getting prepared and still learning a lot. It’s hard, but it gets easier each time you do it. I wouldn’t say it’s easy to get back into the swing of things, but I’m ready, so I’m making it work. How’s the preparation going and how difficult or easy is it to get back into the swing of being on the road? It’s been a few years since you last toured. Arie is a soulful, brilliant and multilayered artist whose timeless message that we are all “worthy” makes her music relevant and multigenerational. I spoke with India.Arie about the new album, “Worthy,” what she learned about herself during her three-year hiatus from touring and, of course, who are some of her mentors and sources of inspiration.
Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and many more.Įach ticket purchased for this show includes either a free digital download or CD copy of India.Arie’s album “Worthy.” You will receive an email with more details about this offer approximately seven days after your purchase. She was also chosen by Winfrey’s OWN Network for their SuperSoul 100 list in the Change Makers and Wisdom Teachers category.Īrie is touring nationally in support of her new, eighth album, “Worthy,” featuring the singles “That Magic,” already a Top 10 R&B hit, and “What If,” a tribute to civil rights pioneers Dr. Arie was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and has joined Oprah Winfrey on multiple projects. She also met the Dalai Lama and toured the National Civil Rights Museum with him in Memphis, Tennessee. presidents (receiving public praise from President Clinton and President Obama), as well as working alongside her mentor Stevie Wonder, including sharing the stage in his history-making 2014–15 Songs in the Key of Life Tour. 1, Life & Relationship”), numerous NAACP Image Awards, BET Awards, MTV Awards, command performances for three U.S. 1 debuting 2006 release, “Testimony: Vol. Singer-songwriter India.Arie helped launch the neo-soul movement of the early 2000s and remains a pillar of contemporary R&B with her engaging grooves and thoughtful, positive lyrical messages.Īrising from Atlanta’s rich music scene, Arie earned seven Grammy Award nominations with her 2001 debut release, “Acoustic Soul.” She has continued with a string of successful albums (five consecutive Top 10s) and collaborations with artists as diverse as John Mellencamp and Stevie Wonder, whom she accompanied on his historic 2015 Songs in the Key of Life Tour.Īmong many other awards, Arie’s 21 Grammy nominations have brought four wins, including a Best R&B Album nod for her 2003 release “Voyage to India.”Īmong her accomplishments and accolades are 10 world tours, millions of records sold, five Top 10 albums (including her No. Writer // Janelle Morrison Photography // Benedict Evans India.Arie
The Palladium // Wednesday, May 29, 7:30 p.m.