This is the first in a new series I want to try this year where I rank discographies from artists both familiar and new to me. Ideally, this will happen once every month, but there is still a good chance that I will end up missing a month here or there. Currently, I’m in the middle of working my way through a fairly big discography for February, so I thought I might as well do someone who is dominating the beginning of 2024, Kali Uchis.
Kali Uchis is someone I’ve been familiar with since before her debut album. In 2017, she had standout features on incredible albums from Tyler, the Creator and Daniel Caesar that really caught my attention. Since this period, her popularity has only risen and risen, so much so that she actually did a small arena tour at the end of 2023! It’s been a pleasure watching someone grow in popularity throughout these past few years, while still releasing quality music of all kinds! I don’t think she has a bad album, or project, in her entire discography. In fact, I would call her one of the best R&B and kind-of pop artists of the past decade! She just released her newest album, Orquídeas, a couple weeks ago, which makes it a perfect time to revisit her discography! Here are all four of her albums ranked and reviewed from worst to best.
Honorable Mention: Por Vida EP (2015)
This is only an EP, so I’m not counting it in my rankings, but it’s still worth a listen for fans of her! Por Vida is her debut EP, but she was already getting production from people like Tyler, Kaytranada, Diplo, and more. This project is easily the most cutesy in her discography. It feels like a sugary version of what we would get later on. The Amy Winehouse influence in the production, and even her vocals to a certain extent, is clear on Por Vida, especially on a track like “Know What I Want”. Something I love about this project is that fans are still finding out about it and loving it. For example, the third song on here, “Melting”, went viral in late 2022. It’s now one of her most streamed tracks, and it’s a perfect one to get people into Por Vida! Her vocals toe the line between airy and wispy, and the shimmering harp and synth melodies provide a luscious backdrop for her to croon over. The chorus is immediate and heartwarming, just like many other songs on here. Por Vida doesn’t fully count as an album in her discography, but it’s still worth checking out!
4. Red Moon in Venus (2023)
Released only 10 months ago, Red Moon in Venus is her most sonically consistent project. This is a timeless R&B and soul project that I think will age beautifully over the next decade or so. Songs like “All Mine” and “Love Between...” are beautiful ballads that show Kali at her most in love. Even though people like Don Toliver and Summer Walker have fantastic features, Kali Uchis is clearly the star of this album. What holds it back for me is just the fact that it is so consistent in its sound. All of her other albums change sound quite a bit throughout, but this one is constant in the sonic pallets that she chooses to pick from. So if I am ever in the mood for a lovely, timeless R&B album from Kali Uchis, this is the one to go to. But if I’m not in the mood for a slow burn R&B project, this one isn’t a necessity.
3. Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) (2020)
Sin Miedo was her first album that was mainly in Spanish. Similar to her debut album, this album shows Kali trying a wide variety of Latin genres. There are Latin pop songs like, “No Eres Tú (Soy Yo)” and “Telepatía”, the latter of which became the biggest hit of her career! It has over a billion streams and had lots of chart success, even here in the US. The first half of the album is drenched in Latin jazz and R&B influence, which is where she succeeds the best on this album. A song like “Fue Mejor” is the most sensual she’s ever made, even though I still have no idea what she’s saying. But then, there are also moments like “Que Te Pedí//”, which is a cover of a song by Cuban artist La Lupe. The last few songs here show Kali starting to dip her toes into reggaeton, to some decent success. They aren’t my favorite tracks, but it fits with the overall feeling of the album trying a bunch of different sounds. That variety might make this album age poorly, but in my opinion, it’s still aging pretty well so far!
2. Orquídeas (2024)
Released only a couple weeks ago, Orquídeas takes my least favorite part of Sin Miedo, and then improves on it infinitely to make an irresistibly fun listen! The singles on here provided a perfect look into what the full project was going to be. “Muñekita” with El Alfa and JT constantly changes pace from an upbeat reggaeton banger to a slower, balled-esque song. It’s insane that this song actually works with how much it keeps changing. She also has a remix of a song from 2022 called “No Hay Ley”, which is a bit more accessible than the previous track, but the irresistible chorus is undeniable. The album stays in this Latin dance/club music throughout almost the entire runtime! There are a couple changes though, one of which is the slowburn “Te Mata” that showcases her beautiful deep vocals yet again. She has many of the heavy hitters of the Latin community here, including people like Karol G, Peso Pluma, and Rauw Alejandro. The album is so much fun to listen to, and I think it will only continue to get more replayable once the weather gets warmer. Orquídeas starts off 2024 on a great note!
1. Isolation (2018)
I still remember my first listen of this album. It was in first hour English class the day it came out. For some reason, we had a work day and were able to listen to music. It was just enough time to listen to Isolation in full, and long story short, I didn’t get a lot of writing done during that class period. My hype for the album revolved around the couple features she did in 2017 and the “After the Storm” single with Tyler, the Creator and Bootsy Collins. It wasn’t even my most hyped album of the month, that was Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer that would come out three weeks later. I thought Isolation was going to just be a little appetizer for a few weeks until Dirty Computer, but Kali Uchis actually came through with the better album!
This album goes through seemingly a different subgenre every song! There is R&B, soul, bossanova, funk, bedroom pop, electro-pop, and so much more! The names that helped Kali on this album are massive! Gorillaz, Tame Impala, Thundercat, Sounwave, Steve Lacy, Romil, BadBadNotGood, and so much more are on here, and that’s only including the production, not even the actual vocal features! She gives her fans a taste of everything that she could have done with her future material. The Spanish-sung reggaeton that she just did with Orquídeas makes its start here with “Nuestro Planeta". The slow, sensual R&B comes into play with songs like “Flight 22” and “Killer”. There are plenty of fantastic pop hits that include everything from the electro-pop banger “Dead To Me” to the funk-inspired “Your Teeth In My Neck”. This is where people should start with Kali Uchis! Unless you are a huge fan of any particular subgenre that she’s explored later on, this is where people need to start. Kali Uchis not only knocked it out of the park with this debut album, but made one of the best R&B-centric albums of the 2010s!
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