Voyage to India explained

Voyage to India
Type:	studio
Artist:	India Arie
Cover:	India.Arie - Voyage To India album cover.jpg
Border:	yes
Recorded:	2001–2002
Genre:	R&B
Label:	Motown
Producer:	India Arie Blue Miller Paul Morton Jr. Andrew Ramsey Shannon Sanders
Prev Title:	Acoustic Soul
Prev Year:	2001
Next Year:	2006

Voyage to India is the second studio album by American singer India Arie, released on September 24, 2002, by Motown. The album is titled after a track by Arie's idol Stevie Wonder from his 1979 album Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants".^[1]

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.^[2] It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) 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.^[3] The song "Get It Together" was featured on many film soundtracks, including Brown Sugar (2002) and Shark Tale (2004).^{[4] [5]}

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

Chart (2002)! scope="col"

Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[6]	67
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[7]	12
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[8]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)! scope="col"

Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[9]	45
US Billboard 200^[10]	190
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[11]	83

Chart (2003)! scope="col"

Position
US Billboard 200^[12]	189
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[13]	66

Notes and References

1. Waldron . Clarence . Hit Singer India.Arie . . 102 . 16 . October 7, 2002 . 62 . 0021-5996 . Google Books.
2. Ellis . Michael . Martens . Todd . The King Reigns Again On Billboard Charts . . October 3, 2002 . April 3, 2019.
3. Web site: India Arie – Voyage To India CD. CDUniverse.com.
4. Web site: Soundtracks for Brown Sugar (2002). IMDb.com.
5. Web site: Soundtracks for Shark Tale (2004). IMDb.com.
6. Book: Ryan, Gavin. Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. 2011. Moonlight Publishing. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia. PDF. 18.
7. Web site: Albums : Top 100 . . October 3, 2002 . April 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040729091408/http://www.canoe.com/JamMusicCharts/prev_100302_ALBUMS.html . July 29, 2004.
8. Web site: R&B : Top 50. Jam!. October 17, 2002. January 27, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20021021173728/http://www.canoe.com:80/JamMusicCharts/RANDB.html. October 21, 2002.
9. Web site: Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2002 . Jam! . January 14, 2003 . March 27, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20031012032620/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_r&b.html . October 12, 2003.
10. Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002 . Billboard . April 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200505133545/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2002/top-billboard-200-albums . May 5, 2020.
11. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002 . Billboard . April 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200915142346/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2002/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums . September 15, 2020.
12. Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003 . Billboard . April 3, 2019.
13. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2003 . Billboard . April 3, 2019.