India.Arie’s very first single was up for four Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Video was the lead single from her debut album, Acoustic Soul, on Motown. It went to US radio in February 2001 and the album followed that March. It came out here in June 2001 and reached number 32 on the UK singles chart. In the US it got to number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the Grammys in 2002, Video was also nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. Those were among India.Arie’s first seven Grammy nominations, and she made her Grammy stage debut that night performing it.
The person underneath the make-up and the clothes
I love this song. It’s about being true to yourself. It talks about make-up and clothes and all kinds of stuff, and it gets you asking a simple question. Strip all of that away, and who’s the person underneath?
Two lines say it all. “I learned to love myself unconditionally.” And “When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me.”
It’s a really uplifting message for anyone, and for women and girls especially.
A record for when you feel the pull to perform
Video sounds like someone who’s stopped trying to impress anybody. It’s the same idea as my post on Emerson, The Less You Try to Impress, about keeping your own counsel in a crowd.
Put it on before you walk into a room where you’ll feel the pull to be somebody else. A first meeting, say, or a networking event, or a big family get-together.
It’s a song I made sure I played to my daughter a lot while she was growing up. I know she loves it too.
