Kali Uchis
photo: amus035 · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Karly Marina Loaiza was born in 1994 in Alexandria, Virginia, and spent parts of her childhood in Pereira, Colombia, an upbringing that left her fluent in the sounds of both American R&B and Latin pop. After early self-releases beginning around 2012 and the 2015 EP 'Por Vida,' she broke through with the critically embraced 2018 album 'Isolation,' whose single 'After the Storm' paired hazy neo-soul with retro funk. Across later projects — the Spanish-language 'Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios),' 'Red Moon in Venus,' and 'Orquideas' — she has moved fluidly between English-language neo-soul and Spanish-language reggaeton and bolero, most visibly on the sleeper hit 'telepatia.'
Uchis, who is of Colombian heritage and grew up between Virginia and Colombia, has named Selena among the Latin artists she draws on, and Selena's model of a bilingual singer crossing romantic Spanish-language pop into a mainstream audience runs through Uchis's own decision to build entire projects around tender Spanish-language material.
listen forPut Selena's cumbia-pop 'Amor Prohibido' on before Uchis's 'Igual Que Un Angel' and notice how both wrap an aching, sighing Spanish-language vocal around a bright, romantic pop melody built for a wide crossover audience rather than a niche one.
Uchis has repeatedly spoken of her admiration for Erykah Badu, a foundational figure of neo-soul, and Badu's hazy, unhurried grooves and conversational, jazz-inflected phrasing are a clear touchstone for the woozy, laid-back mood Uchis cultivates in her English-language R&B.
listen forThrow on Badu's drowsy, dreamlike 'Didn't Cha Know' just before Uchis's 'Melting' and hear the same trick — a soft, blunted groove and a vocal that hangs slightly behind the beat, letting the song drift rather than drive.
Uchis has cited Curtis Mayfield among her influences, and his lineage of lush, orchestrated 1960s-70s soul — warm strings, feather-light falsetto, and an uplifting groove — is one of the vintage textures she reaches for when she leans away from contemporary production and toward retro R&B.
listen forCue Mayfield's buoyant, string-swept 'Move On Up' and then Uchis's 'After the Storm' — both float an airy, hopeful vocal over a springy, feel-good soul-funk pulse that treats warmth and optimism as the whole point of the arrangement.