Kali Uchis

Throughout the 2010s, the line between indie and mainstream continued to blur, rap and R&B melted into each other, and American pop music went urbano. Standing in the middle of all these changes was Kali Uchis, a pancultural pop polymath who’s effortlessly adapted to many contemporary styles while playing the foil to some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B. When the Colombian American singer from Virginia (born Karly Marina Loaiza in 1994) dropped her first EP, Por Vida, in 2015, she seemed like a retro-soul stylist in the Amy Winehouse mold. But through a series of high-profile features and collaborations—like her heartbreaking cameo on Daniel Caesar’s “Get You,” smouldering, dancehall-dipped duet with Jorja Smith on “Tyrant” and sassy turn on Gorillaz’s future-shocked “She’s My Collar”—she developed a reputation as one of pop’s most stylistically varied performers. Her 2018 debut full-length, Isolation, revealed the full scope of her vision, presenting a heady fusion of reggaetón romántico, indie-R&B jams, synth-infused psych pop and Tropicália with a genre- and generation-spanning guest list that included Bootsy Collins, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Tyler, The Creator. As Uchis told Apple Music, this epic statement was a mere teaser of what’s to come. “I want to keep growing,” she said. “I want to keep progressing at a faster rate.” Uchis has since doubled down on her Latin roots. For her 2020 all-Spanish release, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), she enlisted reggaetón icons Jhayco and Jowell & Randy, claiming her rightful place on the frontlines of urbano’s stateside takeover. Three years later, Red Moon In Venus arrived as a return to R&B form, with high-femme aesthetics and silky guest spots from Omar Apollo and Summer Walker, also yielding the throbbing and massively viral hit “Moonlight”. Uchis kicked off 2024 with a head-turning double drop, not only releasing her hotly anticipated ORQUÍDEAS LP, but also announcing her pregnancy with the music video for single “Tu Corazón Es Mío.”