Voyage to India
Voyage to India is the second studio album by American singer India Arie. It was released on September 24, 2002, by Motown. The album's title comes from a track by Arie's idol Stevie Wonder from his 1979 album Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants".
The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 109,000 copies in its first week. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on August 4, 2006. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, it won Best R&B Album, and the single "Little Things" won Best Urban/Alternative Performance. The song "Get It Together" was featured on many film soundtracks, including Brown Sugar and Shark Tale.
Critical reception
Voyage to India received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 65, based on 15 reviews. John Bush of AllMusic said that Arie had "much to prove" after her successful debut, especially due to the notable trend of other neo soul artists, such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu and Macy Gray, faltering with their second albums. Bush, however, found Voyage to India a "beautiful surprise" as it "easily equals her debut, boasting better vocal performances but also better songwriting and accompanying production."Track listing
Sample credits- "Little Things" contains an interpolation of "Hollywood" by Rufus.
Personnel
- India Arie – vocals, guitar
- Brent Barrett – electric guitar
- Algebra Blesset – backing vocals
- John Catchings – cello
- David Davidson – violin
- Steve Grossman – percussion
- Tony Harrell – keyboards
- Tony Tony HarrellHarrington – backing vocals
- Kerisha Hicks – backing vocals
- Avery Johnson – bass
- Doug Kahan – bass
- Paige Martin – backing vocals
- Terry McMillan – percussion
- Blue Miller – backing vocals, acoustic guitar
- Musiq – backing vocals
- Ricky Quinones – guitar
- Andrew Ramsey – guitar
- Dave Ramsey – guitar
- Forrest Robinson – drums
- Bryant Russell – bass
- Shannon Sanders – keyboards, percussion
- Khari Simmons – bass
- Joyce Simpson – vocals
- Laurneá Wilkerson – backing vocals
- John Willis – electric guitar
- Obataiye Samuel - songwriter
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Chart | Position |
US Billboard 200 | 189 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 66 |