Description
When jazz-loving Karly Loaiza was growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, and playing the saxophone in the school band, she looked to strong female artists for escapism and inspiration: Frida Kahlo, Eartha Kitt, Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Maya Angelou. Far from her native Colombia, she found her creative identity in music, developing a smoky blend of ’60s dream-girl pop, ‘90s R&B, soul and blues that transformed her into Kali Uchis, dressed in pastels and pleather, chilling in the California sun with hip-hop bumping out of her lowrider stereo. The playful versatility of her aesthetic and the diversity of her influences have made her both a strong solo voice and a fluid young collaborator: She self-released 2012’s *Drunken Babble* and 2015’s *Por Vida* before dropping her proper debut album, *Isolation*, on Virgin Records.
