Kali Uchis: From Mixtape To Stardom

Now, here’s a Latina popstar whose behind can (and will) make you beg for whatever it is she can offer. Kali Uchis, friends, possesses hotness so hot it can drive you wild. No kidding. Look at what this babe is packing… She is sexy in all the right places, don’t you think?

Now, enough talking and let us proceed into getting to know this fine artist. Ah, yes… You are really in for a treat with this one…

Who is Kali Uchis

Kali Uchis is a Colombian-American singer, songwriter, and producer who refuses to stick to just one genre — so she simply blends R&B, soul, pop, and Latin music into her own dreamy universe. She went from a tough upbringing split between Virginia and Colombia to becoming a Grammy-winning artist with a loyal fanbase and billions of streams.

Her breakout albums Isolation (2018) and Sin Miedo (2020) earned major critical love, especially thanks to “Telepatía,” the viral hit that had half the planet singing in Spanglish.

Along the way, she’s collected some serious hardware: a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and five Latin Grammy nominations. Yup, Kali Uchis isn’t just making music — she’s building a beautifully weird, genre-bending empire.

Her Early Life

Kali Uchis was born Karly Marina Loaiza on July 17, 1994, in Alexandria, Virginia, to a Colombian father and an American mother. Her parents met in the late ’80s, and when Kali was in high school, her father moved back to Colombia. She split her time between both worlds: school-year life with her mom and siblings in Virginia, and summers in Pereira with her dad’s side of the family.

In high school, Kali learned piano and saxophone, joined the jazz band, and developed a love for creating things — especially in the photo lab, where she’d disappear to make experimental short films instead of, you know, going to class. Her passion for photography eventually led her to design cover art for mixtapes.

The skipping-class habit (plus ignoring curfew) eventually got her kicked out of the house, and she spent a period living out of her car. Instead of spiraling, she turned it into a creative boot camp: writing songs on a small keyboard, crafting poetry, and piecing together what would become her debut mixtape, Drunken Babble (2012).

At the time, she wasn’t even trying to be a singer — she wanted to be a filmmaker, not front-and-center talent. But life had other plans. Friends called her “Karluchis,” which she later transformed into the now-iconic stage name Kali Uchis. A little chaotic? Yes. And definitely the origin story of an artist who was always destined to create her own lane.

Career Journey

Right after graduating, Kali released her debut mixtape Drunken Babble on August 1, 2012 — a project so all-over-the-map (in the best way) that critics called it “genre-defying.” It pulled from doo-wop, reggae, and early-2000s R&B, basically announcing: I don’t do boxes. In 2014, she hopped on Snoop Dogg’s mixtape That’s My Work 3 with the track “On Edge,” because apparently Snoop knows talent when he hears it.

In 2015, Kali dropped her first EP, Por Vida, first as a free download and later on iTunes. The project featured production from Diplo, Tyler, The Creator, Kaytranada, and BadBadNotGood — a lineup that screams “cool kids only.” That same year, she hit the road for the first time, touring with Leon Bridges across the U.S. and Canada.

By 2017, Kali was officially everywhere. She appeared on multiple tracks on Gorillaz’s album Humanz, including “She’s My Collar,” plus bonus tracks on the deluxe editions. She then announced her first North American headlining tour, kicking off at Outside Lands and stopping at Pop Montreal. That August, she released “Nuestro Planeta” featuring Reykon as another single from her upcoming album.

Awards started rolling in too: she earned a Latin Grammy nomination (Record of the Year) for “El Ratico” with Juanes, and a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance for “Get You” with Daniel Caesar.

In April 2020, she released the EP To Feel Alive, recorded entirely alone during lockdown — because if anyone was going to make isolation sound dreamy, it was Kali Uchis. Earlier that February, she made a cameo in Thundercat’s gloriously chaotic “Dragonball Durag” music video.

Then came the global takeover. Thanks to a TikTok lip-sync trend, “Telepatía” from her second studio album blew up in early 2021. Before it was even officially a single, it cracked the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, eventually hitting #1. On Spotify, it climbed to #3 on the U.S. Top 50 and #2 globally — proving the world loves a bilingual fantasy moment.

In July 2023, she teased a “new era” with “Muñekita,” featuring El Alfa and JT from City Girls as the first taste of her next album. In 2024, she announced Orquídeas Parte 2, releasing it on August 9.

By early 2025, she was featured on “Damn Right” by Jennie (from BLACKPINK), alongside Childish Gambino — casual. On March 17, 2025, she revealed the title of her fifth studio album, Sincerely, which dropped on May 9. The lead single “Sunshine & Rain…” was announced via TikTok and released March 27 with a music video two days later. The second single, “ILYSMIH,” arrived on April 25. And because she stays booked and creating, she released Sincerely: P.S., a deluxe edition with five extra tracks, on October 3, 2025.

Kali Uchis didn’t just build a career — she built a whole aesthetic.

Facts and Trivia

Kali Uchis has always worn her influences proudly. She’s obsessed with the sound and style of the 1960s — that dreamy blend of early soul, R&B, and doo-wop. “Musically and aesthetically, the culture of it just inspires me,” she’s said, which explains why so many of her songs feel like they’re floating in a vintage haze.

She also loves jazz and has cited legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as early inspirations. Add to that an eclectic mix — Björk, Curtis Mayfield, Loose Ends, Ralfi Pagan, Irma Thomas, Celia Cruz, Salma Hayek, La Lupe, Selena, Shakira, and Ivy Queen — and you get the magical, genre-blurring universe that is Kali Uchis.

Kali is openly bisexual, a part of her identity that naturally shows up in her music, visuals, and overall energy. Since 2020, she’s been in a relationship with rapper Don Toliver. In January 2024, she announced they were expecting their first child through a music video reveal (because of course the announcement had to be cinematic). She welcomed their son in March 2024.

Vintage soul, modern flair, undeniable romance — very on brand for Ms. Uchis.