india.arie might be the only neo-soul artist whose name has become a verb as well as a noun since she burst upon the scene (an “india.arie” happens to an artist who is nominated for a ridiculous amount of Grammy Awards and ends up not winning any. Ex: “damn, Frank Ocean almost got india.arie’d last year.)” Of course, she’s won Grammys since then, and she has also released a fairly steady stream of solid-to-good albums. She’s a little self-righteous, yes. She’s a little Hallmark card-y, yes. But unlike, say, Lauryn Hill (whose self righteousness is condescending and occasionally hateful,) india remains endearing, perhaps because she seems so earnest.
“Cocoa Butter” is the lead single from india’s fifth album, Songversation, which is scheduled to drop on June 25th. It’s a pleasant, mid-tempo song, perfect for what they now term “urban AC” radio. Lyrically and visually, this is exactly what you would expect from india.arie, and I’m still kinda trying to decide whether this is good or bad. I didn’t dislike the song, but it kinda sounds (and the video looks) like what a lab would conjure up if you were to create an india.arie clone.
Shout out to Palmer’s. Check out the video below.