Karly Marina Loaiza, better known as Kali Uchis, is a multi-faceted artist who primarily works as a singer, producer, songwriter, and actress.
She was born on July 17, 1994 in Virginia, United States, as a result of her parents’ emigration from Colombia during the country’s insecurity at the time. Despite this, she never lost touch with her roots because her family was constantly moving from one country to another, and she even lived in Colombia for a few years as a child.
Kali Uchis Wiki
| Stage name | Kali Uchis |
| Real name | Karly Marina Loaiza |
| Born | July 17, 1994 (Alexandria, Virginia, United States) |
| Age | 27 years |
| Nationality | American-Colombian |
| Height | 1.70 meters approx. |
| Occupation | singer, producer, actress, writer, and director |
| Instruments | Voice |
| Main music genres | r & b, soul and hip-hop |
| Activity | 2014 – present |
| Languages | Spanish and English |
| BIRTHPLACE | ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, U.S |
Her name will undoubtedly be remembered for the 2020 hit Telepathy, a Spanglish song about love at a distance with a melody that captivates you from the first time you hear it. However, Kali Uchis has collaborated with renowned artists such as Snoop Dogg, Diplo, Tyler The Creator, Gorillaz, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, and the most recent of her with SZA before (and after) this single. Similarly, she has collaborated with Latin artists such as Reykon, Jhay Cortez, and Juanes.
Her style is a mash-up of various musical genres, most notably r&b, soul, and hip-hop, though she is not afraid to experiment with other genres when given the chance. Similarly, her influence from the retro era and the decades from the 1950s to the 1980s is very noticeable.
The musical career of Kali Uchis
2012-2015
Kali Uchis’ musical career began in 2012 with the release of the mixtape “Drunken Babble,” which was a compilation of previously published songs. The theme that stood out the most in the project was “Never Be Yours,” which, despite not having an official video clip, is published on YouTube with a performance of it published two years later and currently has over 17 million views.
This project boosted her singing career because, much to Kali Uchis’ surprise, her songs had such an impact that several other artists, including Snoop Dogg, A$AP Rocky, Tyler The Creator, Diplo, and Lana del Rey’s producers, got in touch with her.
During 2014, it’s worth noting her collaboration with Snoop Dogg on “On Edge,” a song featured on the rapper’s “That’s My Work” album. Similarly, we must mention the release of the solo single “Know what I want” that same year, which was a huge success.
The following year, in 2015, she made her debut as a studio artist by releasing her EP “Por Vida” for free on her website. This is heavily influenced by jazz and reggae and includes songs like “Melting,” “Lottery,” “Ridin’ ‘Round,” “Loner,” and “Sycamore Tree,” the latter of which was used in an American Horror Story trailer for the sixth season. The single “Know What I Want,” which was released a year earlier, was also included in the project.
2016-2019
Uchis had already made a name for herself, particularly in the United States, and several of her songs had already surpassed one million reproductions and accumulated millions of views.
In Kali Uchis’s career, 2016 was notable for the release of three songs, each of which featured the collaboration of at least one artist. The first is “Perfect,” a collaboration between Tyler, The Creator, and Austin Feinstein; the second is “Tyrant,” a collaboration with Jorja Smith; and the third is Daniel Caesar’s “Get You.” The three are among the most well-known songs by the artist (either her own or in which she collaborates), though it should be noted that “Get You” by Daniel Caesar and in which Kali Uchis collaborates is the artist’s best-known song (though not by his authorship) and has sold more than 200 million copies.
2017 was also marked by good collaborations, such as the one she had with Colombian artist Juanes on the song “El Ratico,” which is part of the artist’s album “My plans are to love you,” as well as two collaborations with Gorillaz: “She’s my necklace,” which belongs to the album “Humanz,” and “Ticker Tape,” which belongs to the deluxe version of said album and in which she also collaborates with Carly Simon. In addition, “See You Again” features a new collaboration with Tyler, The Creator.
She also released singles in 2017 including “Tyrant” with British singer Jorja Smith and “Nuestro Planeta” with Reykon.
On April 6, 2018, his first studio album, “Isolation,” was released. It contains 15 songs, the most notable of which are “Miami” with BIA, “Just a Stranger” with Steve Lacy, “Dead To Me,” “After the Storm,” which marks his third collaboration with Tyler, The Creator, and also includes the singles “Tyrant “with Jorja Smith and “Our Planet “with Reykon, both of which were released a year earlier.
When it comes to new releases, 2019 was not a particularly busy year, though we can highlight the songs “Solita” and “Time” with Free Nationals and Mac Miller.
2020-2021
It had already been on the rise in Kali Uchis’s career since later years, but without a doubt, the year 2020 was the boom and the year in which it would expand its audience the most. This year saw the release of his EP “To Feel Alive” as well as his second studio album “Without Fear (of Love and Other Demons).”
This album featured singles like “Fue Mejor” with PARTYNEXTDOOR, “La Luz (Fin)” with Jhay Cortez, “Aguardiente y Limón”, “La Luna Enamorada”, “Aqui Yo Mando” with Rico Nasty, and by far his most well-known song (both his own and solo) “Telepathy.” This last song has over 113 million views in its audio version alone, and another 66 million in the official video clip released the following year, while it has over 490 million views on Spotify.
Despite being a year of confinement, 2020 undoubtedly marked a before and after in the artist’s career because, thanks to “Telepathy,” she was able to expand her audience even further, in addition to making herself known in the Latin market, where she did not have a large number of listeners prior to the issue of this issue.
So far, 2021 has not been a busy year, and despite the fact that it released the deluxe version of “Sin Miedo” this year, it only includes two songs: Solita (a song that was already released in 2019) and the remix of “It Was Better,” which features SZA but not PARTYNEXTDOOR. Don Toliver’s “Drugs N Hella Melodies” was another song released this year.
Kali Uchis’s Interesting facts
- She was the first Colombian to win a Grammy in a non-Latino category in 2021. She won in the category of “Best Dance Recording” with the song “10% ” by KAYTRANADA.
- Due to conflicts in the Latin American country in the 1990s, her parents emigrated from Colombia to the United States.
- She was born in Alexandria, Virginia, in the United States, but she moved to Colombia at a young age. She even moved to Colombia for a few years.
- She is the youngest of five siblings, with three brothers and one sister.
Her stage name is derived from “Karluchis,” a nickname she gives to her father. - She had no intention of singing at first. However, her music eventually drew her attention to the point where she dropped out of school to pursue her musical career.
- Karly (Kali Uchi’s first name) had many disagreements with her parents because they did not want her to devote herself to music.
- Due to her rebellion, her parents threw her out of the house on one occasion, forcing her to sleep in her car and with several friends until she reconciled with her parents.
- Snoop Dogg, Tyler The Creator, Daniel Caesar, Gorillaz, Jorja Smith, Mac Miller, SZA, Don Toliver, and others have all worked with her.