There are a lot of artists that tend to fly under the radar or aren't as recognized as many believe they should be. Kali Uchis appears to be one of those artists, having slowly made her way up the ranks to get to the career she has today.
Kali Uchis, born Karly-Marina Loaiza, is a Colombian-American singer who grew up making various forms of art. The singer participated in a jazz band in her high school days, learned how to play the piano and saxophone, and often skipped class to work on short films. Uchis would eventually be kicked out of her home and live out of her car, and it's there that she produced her first step into music, Drunken Babble.
Uchis was not initially interested in being in the spotlight, preferring to be behind the camera, until Drunken Babble started gaining traction and afforded the artist a level of popularity there was no turning back from.
Kali Uchis Has Been Making Music For Years
Kali's first release was made in 2012 with Drunken Babble. From there, she continued to release music and videos she self-wrote and produced, and her popularity would only skyrocket from there.
Her growing popularity, unique style, and vocal abilities allowed her the opportunity to collaborate with some of the industry's biggest stars, including the likes of Snoop Dogg and Major Lazer.
Uchis independently released Por Vida via free digital download, an EP that allowed Kali to work with big-name producers like Diplo, before eventually being signed with Virgin EMI.
Ridin Round was the singer's first major label single release, followed by Only Girl featuring the likes of Vince Staples and Steve Lacy.
In these early records, fans can hear the influence of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald in her voice.
Later that same year, she would feature on Get You by Daniel Caesar, another up-and-coming R&B and Neo Soul artist. Kali Uchis continued to feature on other artists' records throughout her career, making appearances on tracks with Juanes, Gorillaz, and Miguel.
Uchis eventually released the singles to her debut album, Tyrant (featuring Jorja Smith) and Nuestro Planeta (Featuring Reykon), both of which went on to do extremely well, and helped showcase the varying styles of music Kali was capable of making, with both songs also having Spanish language releases.
Her debut album, Isolation, debuted at number 32 on the Billboard 200. Shortly after she released To Feel Alive, an EP, and Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios), her first full Spanish-language LP. A deluxe edition was also released.
Uchis featured on the Minions: The Rise of Gru soundtrack, and her body of work with other artists would expand to include the likes of SZA and Rico Nasty.
Tyler, The Creator Has Played A Big Part In Supporting Kali Uchis' Journey
Tyler, The Creator has been a reoccurring artist throughout Kali Uchis' career, with the two often working on music together and having been featured on each other's albums.
Kali Uchis and Tyler, The Creator first worked together with Austin Feinstein on a song called Perfect for Tyler's Cherry Bomb album, which gave Kali the perfect opportunity to show her sultry and unique vocals to a new audience.
The artistic chemistry between the two was highly apparent, with fans singing their praises in the comments of the video on YouTube. The two would reunite for Tyler's Flower Boy album on a song called See You Again.
Tyler eventually returned the favor and featured on her song After the Storm along with Bootsy Collins for her Isolation album. Uchis had an interview with Hot 97 where she spoke highly of Tyler, speaking about how he felt inspired by what she was doing.
The two have often performed together as well, with the pair having performed live together on the Jimmy Fallon show, Coachella, and even touring together.
Kali Uchis Is An Award Nominated And Winning Artist
Kali Uchis has been making her way through award shows with an impressive amount of nominations throughout her career in both English and Spanish-speaking award shows, with her first nomination being for Record of the Year for El Ratico with Juanes.
Additional nominations would follow for Best R&B Performance for Get You, a song she was featured on with Daniel Caesar, Best New Artist at the Soul Train Music Awards, and Best Urban Video-International and Best Production Design In a Video for After the Storm at the UK Music Video Awards.
Uchis eventually got her recognition in 2021 with wins throughout several award shows. She won Favorite Song-Latin at the AMAs for Telepatia. Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) won Latin Pop Album of the Year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, with Uchis also winning The New Generation-Female at the Premios Juventud.
Kali Uchis continued to take award shows by storm, winning two awards at the Premios Nuestra Tierra for Best New Artist and Best Alternative/Rock/Indie Song for Telepatia, and the Crossover Award for Variety Hitmakers.
Uchis would have a Grammy to her name by proxy for her feature on Kaytranadas 10%, which won Best Dance Recording that year.
Telepatia has also won the ASCAP Pop Music Award for Winning Song Writers and the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Female Artist, further solidifying Kali Uchis as a name in the music industry that is here to stay.
Uchis currently has more nominations pending for the Billboard Latin Music Awards.
What Is Next For Kali Uchis?
Kali Uchis shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The vocal powerhouse has released a line of jeans she designed herself under the name Bodied By Uchis, which are made in Colombia. Several of the promotional shots for the brand show that Kali Uchis has been working with Lourdes Leon, Madonna's daughter (who maintains a modeling career despite having a millionaire mom).
Uchis popularity only continues to grow, having performed at huge events like Rolling Loud in New York and dropping a video for her new single NO HAY LEY, her second release of the year.
The video received overwhelmingly positive comments in both English and Spanish on the Youtube video, with fans praising Uchis for her ever-changing fashion and musicality.
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