Rane, a female disc jockey for radio station WPGC in Washington, raised the issue directly with Ms. Arie's own, don't conform to white standards of beauty.

''I'm not the average girl from your video,'' she sang on the hit song ''Video.'' ''And I ain't built like a supermodel/ But I learned to love myself unconditionally/ Because I am a queen.''Įven more tellingly, in a modern update of the 60's declaration that ''Black Is Beautiful,'' her seductive song ''Brown Skin,'' a tribute to a lover, was heard as a paean to black men and women whose dark coloring and broad features, like Ms. Arie, who is 26, articulated a vision of African-American physical beauty that has proved inspirational to a large, passionate audience of young women. On ''Acoustic Soul,'' which came out last year and earned her seven Grammy nominations, Ms. Arie's first name.) And the principal characteristic of that sign is honesty, she said, a virtue Ms. (The proximity of her birthday to Gandhi's is the source of Ms. Arie is a Libra, too, along with Sting, John Lennon and Mahatma Gandhi, she pointed out. Taking her seat in the van that was transporting her and her small entourage around the city, she said: ''That goes down in my book as today's information. Arie exclaimed with a wide smile, as if a mystery had been solved. Arie whirled around and called out: ''Wait a minute, wait a minute! When's your birthday?'' Arie that he liked her debut album, ''Acoustic Soul.'' A photographer snapped pictures of this unlikely pair, and then they each turned to leave.

I'd like to do something with you.''Įminem's features softened and his lips curled into a smile. ''I think you're brilliant,'' she said, resting her hand on Eminem's arm. Now, unexpectedly, they were face to face - and Eminem suddenly looked like a schoolboy caught smoking behind the gym by the principal. Arie's spiritual ballads and anthems of self-esteem have made her a beacon for those who believe that popular music must be an agent for positive change. But when he bumped into the soul singer India.Arie backstage at BET's after-school show, ''106 and Park: Top Ten Live'' one afternoon last month, he stopped dead in his tracks.Įminem's homophobic, misogynistic and violent rap lyrics have made him the scourge of the P.T.A.

IT'S not often you see the swaggering Eminem thrown off his game.

India arie songs about beauty