Album of the Week | Kali Uchis: Orquídeas

Kali Uchis exists in an orbit all her own. At just 29 years old, the genre-bending performer has already blazed a vibrant trail, boasting a Grammy win, a no-skips discography that’s landed her on Best Of lists year after year and a certain undeniable air of grace and timelessness. Born in Virginia to a family of Colombian immigrants, those around Uchis dreamed she’d go to college, get an education and carve out a good life for herself. Indeed, she has since found success beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. But as with everything else in her career, she’s done it on her own terms.

Raised in both the United States and Colombia, Uchis found her greatest love (and refuge) in music and writing at a young age, drawing early inspiration from Colombian pop and hip-hop, as well as jazz greats like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. She spent her childhood crafting poetry and later went on to play piano and saxophone during a stint in her school’s band. Upon graduation, she agreed to give community college a try—and she ended up dropping out just 15 days later. Instead, she put out her R&B heavy, doo-wop-tinted debut mixtape Drunken Babble for free on DatPiff in 2012. Self-produced on her laptop when she was still only 18, the project made waves across the Blog Era and in underground circles, eventually catching the attention of the likes of Snoop Dogg and Diplo. Still just a teenager, she was determined not to let her moment pass her by, managing to save up enough money from her grocery store job to move out to Los Angeles. By the time she self-released free debut EP Por Vida, Uchis’ ascent to the top felt all but imminent.

Her mainstream tipping point came in 2017, when she won over audiences with the Jorja Smith-featuring bop “Tyrant” and masterminded the irresistible, track-defining hook on longtime friend and collaborator Tyler, the Creator’s “See You Again,” which remains one of his biggest songs to date. The critical acclaim that met her 2018 debut LP Isolation was well-deserved, while the commercial success of her 2020 album Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) (her first Spanish record) was long overdue. And she put her R&B chops on full display last year with Red Moon in Venusa, sung mostly in English and featuring guest appearances from Summer Walker, Omar Apollo, and beau Don Toliver.

Now, with fourth album Orquídeas, Uchis is ready to embrace what she calls a “new era” for her music. “A lot of my music is very Spanglish because that’s how I was raised and that style comes more naturally to me,” she told Billboard back in 2022. “But I’m ready to give it my all.” She confirmed that she had two completed albums on deck—one in English and one in Spanish. With Red Moon in Venus appearing to be the English title, Orquídeas is its long-anticipated Spanish counterpart.