Kali Uchis is an American singer and songwriter. She has released three studio albums, Isolation (2018), Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) (2021), and Red Moon in Venus (2023), with the latter being the first to debut in the top 10 of the USA’s Top 100 Billboard charts. Her music is primarily described as a blend of R&B, hip-hop, and soul.
Karly-Marina Loaiza was born July 17th, 1994, in Alexandria, Virginia. Though she lived in the USA with her American mother during the school year, she spent summers in Colombia with her father and his family. Her childhood has had a profound impact on her music; "I’ve mostly made really chill music, because life around me was very chaotic when I was young", she explained in a 2023 interview with Elle magazine. As far as her influences go, Uchis has drawn inspiration from a whole host of powerful female voices, including the legendary jazz icons Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
Proud and open about her bisexuality, Uchis described the importance of her identity for her queer Latin audience in an interview with the Los Angeles Times,
I’ve been bisexual my whole life. [...] People are constantly trying to find something to invalidate. I want more people in the Latin community to feel like they can express themselves freely and not have to confine themselves. That’s why it was so important to me [to make music] — I want to show them what Latin music can be.