Last week, Aggies were reminded that India.Arie is not her hair nor the sum of her biggest hits. As part of the annual Lyceum Series, the Grammy award winner took the stage at Harrison Auditorium on April 25 to a packed house of students, staff, and Greensboro community members.
Last week, Aggies were reminded that India.Arie is not her hair nor the sum of her biggest hits. As part of the annual Lyceum Series, the Grammy award winner took the stage at Harrison Auditorium on April 25 to a packed house of students, staff, and Greensboro community members.
The program began with some stand-up comedy from junior Shelby Womack, who acted as mistress of ceremonies for the opening acts; each of which were selected from the Living Your Art and A&T Workshop Intensive.
Poet and opener Percy Archie, a sophomore English major from High Point, N.C. explains how acts were chosen saying, “It [the process] consisted of one workshop per month for three months. Ms. Hilda [an organizer] requested medleys of songs, dances, and poetic pieces to see range of what we’re capable of. Final cuts were made the last workshop”. He went further describing the practices as consisting of “learning blocking, dance moves, and confidence.”
After the preliminaries, which included a dance from Mr. A&T, Reginald Johnson, and vocal trio, Harmony, Chancellor Harold Martin took to the mic to introduce India.Arie. The “Songversation” was more than a typical concert. Arie, along with her band, back-up singers, and dancer gave those in attendance a collection of ten life “lessons” which were followed by performances of songs that musically illustrated the message being conveyed.
Some songs from her back catalog, such as debut single “Video”, got the crowd on its feet. However, in an interesting choice, Arie’s set consisted mostly of tracks from her not-yet-released and unheard new album, “Open Door.”
SGA treasurer Desiree Simmons saw no issue with this. “I feel like she practiced everything she preached about the entire show because she didn’t do what people necessarily wanted to hear. She didn’t do all of her hits. She kept saying that you do what you want to do, what makes you happy, what makes you feel is right. That’s basically what she did and it was beautiful.”
Throughout the night she took the crowd on a journey through her highs, lows, struggles within the industry, and issues in her personal life.
The songstress even opened up about her hiatus from music after the release of her last album, “Testimony Vol. 2: Love & Politics,” in 2008.
At the show’s conclusion, attendees were urged to stay back for an intimate talk with Arie.
“I’ve been a fan since middle school so getting to ask her [India.Arie] a question, and have her answer me was more than I could ask for,” said senior biology student from Raleigh, Tiara Washington. “The India.Arie concert was truly a dream come true for me.
She was such a free spirit and created such a positive atmosphere.”
Following the question-and-answer portion, Arie surprised those remaining with a special encore performance of her hit ballad, “Ready for Love.”
With a powerful voice, and even more powerful message, Arie proved herself to be nothing short of “The Truth.”
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- Chuck Johnson, Senior Reporter
