Grammy-winning neo-soul artist India.Arie has expressed a strong affection for Seattle, citing its natural beauty as a source of creative rest. In a recent interview, she discussed her performances in the Pacific Northwest and her personal growth following a pandemic hiatus. Arie celebrated her 50th birthday with a concert in the city and released a new EP marking her return as an independent artist.
India.Arie, whose debut album Acoustic Soul was released 25 years ago to international acclaim, has long found solace in Seattle. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, a protégé of Stevie Wonder and a peer to artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and D’Angelo, described the city as her favorite during an interview with KNKX ahead of her Valentine’s Day performance at the Songs of Black Folk event in Federal Way, Washington.
Arie first publicly shared her love for Seattle in lyrics from her 2013 album Sonversation: “I love Seattle as if I were the rain.” She explained, “I'm one of the people who understands the secret, the Seattle secret, like the real beauty of Seattle.” As an introvert, she appreciates the “Seattle Freeze” and uses visits to places like Bellevue, Mercer Island, Vashon, and Bainbridge to “get air.” These trips inspire her songwriting: “Coming to Seattle, I’m just [able to] be in nature and able to walk outside and able to drive up to the beach in a regular car and watch the sunset... It’s rest, that type of rest gives birth to songs.”
In recent months, Arie has traveled frequently from Georgia to Washington. She performed signature songs including “Ready For Love” and “One” at the Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center. The Songs of Black Folk concert featured vocalists Zebulon Ellis and Josephine Howell, a local choir, and a band led by Ramón Bryant Braxton. It concluded with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “As” and honored community leaders and influential Black artists.
Arie defined Black love as “the embracing of all of the beautiful things that we are, like our inside jokes and our inside stories.” Earlier, in October, she marked her 50th birthday with the “Golden Birthday Jubilee Concert” at Plymouth Church United Church of Christ in Seattle on October 5. This event preceded the release of her EP Write of Passage two days later, her first solo project in six years and first as an independent artist since 2019's Worthy.
The COVID-19 lockdown prompted Arie to confront burnout: “When you're in the music industry, it's like you're always running a marathon... The thing I learned about myself was that I wasn't even on my own list.” Now practicing mindfulness, she is “coming off hiatus” and plans to be more visible, including more interviews. Acoustic Soul turns 25 on March 27.