India.Arie

India.Arie's winning 2001 debut album. She's so cute and spunky you'll want to take her home, but more importantly this album shows off Arie's budding songwriting chops and her seriously lovely, warm voice. Motown clearly didn't spend much on production, but she shines nonetheless. Check out "Brown Skin," "Part of My Life" and gorgeous, acoustic "Beautiful."

The songs this Atlanta-based singer conjures up are rooted in a back-to-basics soul vibe,
and the arrangements on her debut album demonstrate the emotional charge unplugged
instruments can add to the mix. But the combined effect of these elements -- along with
India.Arie's clearly heartfelt delivery -- adds up to much more than what the album's title
implies. On "Back in the Middle," a character study of people going to extremes t... More >