But now people are expecting artists to address the political climate because things are so crazy. So, even with addressing the political climate now, I’ve always. “I write and do what I feel,” says Arie on her songwriting methods. Once criticized for being “too preachy,” Arie believes musicians like never before are now expected to use their platforms to tackle these issues in their lyrics. Produced by Aaron Lindsey, Worthy features several powerful tracks, including love ballads “That Magic”,” Steady Love” and the Civil Rights-driven anthem “What If.” For the four-time Grammy award-winner, addressing social justice and politics is nothing new in her music. I think this turned out better than I imagined.” I ‘m so happy that it did and that I was open enough that I didn’t have this completed developed vision. I told myself ‘if you do this and it doesn’t take shape, I just won’t make an album’. “So, I called that and understood the process of writing songs and it started to take shape on its own. “I knew worthy was my favorite word and it still is,” Arie muses. While India Arie was recording what would later manifest as Worthy, the 43-year-old singer-songwriter cites working without expectations and a “completed developed vision” helped the process. As she puts it, “No one was really listening to music.” Despite the desire to create new music, Arie recalls a period of being uninspired, often seeking guidance from her close friends. However, making the album didn’t happen overnight. And, more than making an album, I just decided that I was going to go on a journey and shifting that narrative for myself and for other people.”Īrie admits the episode wasn’t the catalyst that inspired her to make a new record, but that it was a sign.
Is that really how I look to people? I realized to some I really did look like that. For her to ask that just drove home what I really was,” Arie says in a phone interview. During the interview, Winfrey asked, “How long has unworthiness been your calling card?” Or so it seems.īack in 2013, Arie was a guest on Winfrey’s “Super Soul Sunday” where she and the media maven sat down to discuss her then-new record SongVersation. The 16-track collection opens with the self-empowering intro “Worthy” where the artist chants “everyone is worthy.”Īnd it all started with a conversation with Oprah Winfrey. Her first single “That Magic”, a reggae-infused banger, peaked at number 6 on the Adult R&B Songs chart. Released in February, Worthy reunites fans with India Arie ’s cleverly weaved world views on love and relationships while experimenting with new sounds. Two years later, Arie would release SongVersation: Medicine, an EP follow-up to her fifth album of the same name. In 2015, the R&B songstress released Christmas with Friends, a holiday collaboration with pianist Joe Sample, Brandy, and Tori Kelly.
However, Arie is anything but absent from the music industry. The tour, in support of her eighth studio album Worthy, marks the songstress’s first full-length record in half a decade.
It’s a rainy day in Nashville as singer-songwriter India.Arie prepares for an evening of interviews before embarking on the Worthy Tour, a 21 city trek which includes a sold-out stop at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Center, May 14. 7 Comments INDIA.ARIE// THE JOURNEY TO WORTHY
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