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When you talk to people who have worked with Kali Uchis, they often use her name as an adjective to describe her essence and artistry: “There's something Kali-like about it” or “a Kali trademark,” they say and thus summarize their unique mood.
On Orquídeas, the singer's fourth studio album, which she released on Friday, Uchis delves deep into her Colombian heritage without straying from the essence that has defined her over the past decade.
“If I were leading a masterclass for aspiring artists, I would tell them to look at Kali’s process. She doesn't calculate and doesn't chase. She is a trendsetter, not a follower,” says Nir Seroussi, executive vice president of Interscope Geffen. “She has a clear version of what she wants to say, but she doesn’t have a limited path.”
Uchis effortlessly combines merengue, neo-soul, bossa nova, R&B and even a bit of urbano on the album from a fresh, clear perspective.
“For someone to be 10 years old and still getting bigger is incredibly rare,” says Matt Morris, who oversees Uchis’ projects. “The music she has made over the last 10 years has shaped today's zeitgeist. She was always ahead of the curve and a perfectionist in the best sense of the word.”
From “City Girls” JT and Rauw Alejandro to Peso Pluma and photographer Daniel Sattwald, Rolling Stone caught up with several of “Orquídeas” collaborators to discuss working with the “mastermind” and creating the rich world to talk about the album.
Sana sana, colita de rana, bitch
JT from City Girls vividly remembers seeing Uchis for the first time. “She just had this demanding energy about her that would probably intimidate some people,” she tells Rolling Stone. “But I thought it was so sexy.”
At that point, the rap star knew very little about the singer and had never heard her music. But she remembers that Uchis had an attitude that stuck with her.
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Several years later, Uchis called JT and asked if she would be on Orquídeas' dembow-infused lead single “Muñekita.” Uchis was a fan of her work with City Girls. When JT heard the news she was gagged. “I thought, 'Seriously?'” she says with a laugh. “Kali is a true artist and very inspiring. However, I am still shocked to this day.”
JT says Uchis invited her to her home in Los Angeles to record her verse. By the time she arrived, Uchis had already written a complete verse. “I write my music 100 percent, so at first I thought, 'How could Kali write a verse for me?' I didn’t expect it to be good,” says JT. “But when I heard it, I was like, 'Okay, that's fire!' I could do that.'”
However, JT wanted to “add something spicy” to the song. “I think, 'It's not about describing me as a shit-talking gunman,' and that's how 'sana, sana colita de rana' came about,” she says. “We laughed the whole time because I had a Spanish accent.”
“Being part of a Kali Uchis album feels like a full-circle manifestation,” JT adds. “I really admire Kali and want to give her her flowers because I look up to her a lot.”
Chilling by the pool in Acapulco
Manuel Lara, the producer of several Uchis hits including “Telepatía,” recalls a special writing camp in 2022 that he, Albert Hype, Brandon Cores and several other producers had with Uchis in Acapulco. It was a hugely productive week, producing some of the album's singles and standouts – and even “Hasta Cuando” from last year's Red Moon in Venus.
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The producers set up three separate areas in the villa in which to make music: by the pool, where they stayed up late recording; a home theater that had a dark, cave-like atmosphere and a lot of sound absorption; and an underground billiards room with an echo “that sounded like we were in a cathedral.”
“Kali sang from the pool with a microphone,” Lara remembers with a laugh. “I thought, 'She's going to get electrocuted!' She was in her mood, so a lot of ideas came up.”
The producers developed different sounds, chords and ideas for each station and received instructions from Uchis. “It was very clear to her,” says Lara. “She understood the connections as we worked.” The end result was Orquídeas highlights such as “Te Mata”, “Labios Mordidos” and “Tu Corazón Es Mío”.
Peso Pluma goes pop
Kali Uchis pulled Peso Pluma from corridos and reggaetón and “brought him into her world” on “Igual Que Un Ángel,” says Nir Seroussi.
“Since we've never heard Peso do anything like that, we asked on paper, 'What the hell is that supposed to sound like?'” says the manager who helped recruit Peso to the project. “When you hear that a Kali song has peso in it, you automatically think it’s going to have a trombone.”
“In your head, [the collab] makes no sense. But when you hear it, you hear it,” he adds. “It's wonderful how good he sounds. He sounds so comfortable.”
The singer's often harsh and harsh vocals fit perfectly with the dreamy synth-pop energy of Orquídeas' third track. “It's a different sound than what fans are used to from me, and I love being able to show more versatility with my music,” Peso tells Rolling Stone. “It was great collaborating with Kali on this song.”
“Balanced” with Rauw Alejandro’s mood
Uchis wanted to find an album for “No Hay Ley,” the one-off single she released in 2022, because it didn’t make sense at last year’s Red Moon in Venus, Seroussi says.
“It’s something that was really close to her heart,” he explains. “When you're as prolific as she is, songs get lost. But she wanted to find a place for it.”
The track was eventually reinterpreted by Rauw Alejandro, who gave the fan favorite a “different twist” thanks to his flowing vocals. “When you have two artists with a similar tone or similar energy, you think they don't fit together,” Seroussi explains. “But I think Rauw gave it a different color. It’s like a second version rather than a remix because you can hear how his performance brings out something different.”
Rauw raves about Uchis to Rolling Stone, calling her an “incredible artist” and adding that the song's energy resonated with him and what he does musically after his split from Planeta Saturno last summer. “I love what she does and what she stands for,” says Rauw. “It clicked immediately when she sent me the song and I was thrilled to collaborate because the mood matched my musical moment.”
The “undiluted world of the orchid” in the album’s imagery
The album cover for Orquideas features a nude Uchis, her body pressed against a glass wall, her breasts covered by two orchids and surrounded by gold pieces, spread flowers, and a fuchsia liquid, giving the impression that she is the singer floating underwater.
The image was taken by Daniel Sannwald, known for photographing the covers of Rosalía's Motomami and SZA's SOS, as well as last year's Rolling Stone cover story with Bad Bunny.
Sannwald – who previously directed music videos for Uchis' “Fue Mejor” and “Nuestro Planeta” – said he was immediately excited about the idea of collaborating with Uchis on it. “Kali and I developed a friendship and I think she felt very safe around me,” he says.
As with the album's sound, Uchis honored her roots by naming the album Orquídeas after Colombia's national flower, the Cattleya trianae orchid. Sannwald incorporated the flower – known for its pastel lavender petals and yellow lip – into most of his images. In addition, small gold flakes float around Uchis' left arm, which, according to Sannwald, are an “important element of their culture.”
During filming, Uchis lay on a large Plexiglas platform while Sannwald shot at her from below. There's a behind-the-scenes image from the shoot in which Uchis smiles looking down at Sannwald as she poses on the plexiglass. “It’s really sweet,” he says of the memory. “You can really see that we have a lot of fun together.”
Sannwald ultimately shot several options for the album, which he wanted to bring “into a surrealist world” by collaborating with artist and designer Mat Maitland, who has worked with Michael Jackson, Lana Del Rey and Elton John.
“The artwork is so important that it feels like an additional track on the album. It’s a part of the world and you can’t really take it apart,” says Maitland, who also designed the physical album’s packaging. “You’ll always think of the images when you hear it.”
In addition to the Uchis image on the plexiglass, there are two alternative covers that Maitland worked on. Both see Uchis in what Maitland describes as “the undiluted, lush world of the orchid.” In one image, Uchis is seen in the air as he floats on the flower as if it were a cloud. When creating the collages, Maitland says she was inspired by Prince's Lovesexy cover from 1987, which featured Prince sitting naked on some lilies in similar pastel tones.
“I wanted the orchid to represent this otherworldly, larger-than-life fantasy landscape,” says Maitland. “There is nothing else there: just a world full of orchids, and Kali is in that world.”
There's also a beautiful gatefold image in the LP packaging of Uchis lying in the ground, wrapped in gold ropes, her breasts covered in flowers. Behind her, a larger-than-life orchid resembles a vulva. Maitland says that there are “natal or sexual elements” as points of contact that “do not force the viewer to think one thing or the other, but provide clues as to it.” In ancient Greece, orchids also symbolized fertility and virility. This is no coincidence: the day before her album's release, Uchis announced that she was expecting a baby with Don Toliver.
Daniel Sattwald and Kali Uchis during the Orquídeas cover shoot for Daniel Sannwald
A taste of Coachella casi 'te mata'
Producer Lara has a fond memory of hearing Uchis play “Te Mata” for the first time. He was in Colombia watching a livestream of Coachella when, out of nowhere, Uchis began performing the then-unreleased song. “I thought, 'What?!' She takes the song! It was incredible,” says Lara, who co-produced the track. “That’s how I knew the song would be on the album.”
Morris, the A&R for the album, says that it was even a surprise to him that Uchis performed the song at Coachella, but that it created “a demand for the song” in the months leading up to its release. “She's able to generate excitement over a long period of time, not because it's a major strategy, but because she's always working on so much and wants to make it available to her fans,” Morris says. “She makes such timeless music that stands the test of time.”
Lara says his production team was inspired by “La Tirana” by Cuban singer La Lupe. Morris praised the “telenovela” feel, calling it a “natural evolution” from the music she made for 2020's “Sin Medio (del Amor y Otros Demonios).” “It’s very dark but sensual at the same time,” says Lara. “I think this is one of the songs that represents the roots of Kali on this record.”
An unconventional merengue finish
Uchis ends Orquídeas with a merengue wedding dance floor party on “Dame Beso // Muévete.”
“It is a merengue, but there are parts that are not conventional. “It wouldn’t pass in a traditional song, but it’s the mixer she puts it in,” Seroussi explains. “To me it’s beautiful how she makes everything sound like the Kali trademark.”
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“It shows the fun side of her personality. I remember the first time I heard that, 'Wait, what?'” adds A&R Morris. “People aren’t immersed in that sound at the moment. She is a trendsetter and she is able to explore new territory while still feeling like she is herself.”
Seroussi says Kali wanted to experiment with two types of meringues and was debating which one to proceed with. She loved both “Dame Beso” and “Muévete” and decided to combine them. “To be honest, that would never have occurred to me,” Seroussi says with a laugh. “Ella hace y deshace. It's brilliant. There is no following rules. Everything comes from her intuition.”