My sun and my moon signs are mostly Cancer - it's really strong. We're deeply intuitive and sentimental. I really like to take care of people, nurturing them. I'm very passionate about the things I do and like to see people I love grow.
Kali Uchis
I'm not a Barbie doll, I'm just a multidimensional human being who likes to make things.
I'm constantly trying to look at things from a different view and to put myself into some new perspectives to evolve myself, grow myself, and reinvent myself.
My favourite 'stage' of Shakira was the brunette punk rock one, but she'll always have a special place in my heart, whatever she's doing.
Not everything happens when you expect it; it is what it is. The people who ride with you, ride with you.
Aliens are definitely real.
I never had a backup plan. I felt like if I had a backup plan, it was like saying to the universe that I didn't believe in myself.
The reason I made my stage name Kali Uchis is because it's still me in the sense that, my dad called me 'Kali Uchis' my whole life. It's still something I've been called since I was a baby. It's still me.
The people, the culture... there's so much magic in Colombia, so I feel like being a kid, being able to have that, being able to also call Colombia my home, it was such an important part of my introduction as an artist, too, because it's such a big part of my life as a human being.
Do you. Wear what you want to wear. Be an individual. Be unique and live your best life.
As female artists, we have to be constantly criticized for the way that we look, the way that we dress, on a whole other level that men don't have to face.
I've never been pressed to be friends with everyone or be popular, even in school - I've always done my own thing.
On my off day, I really want to just lay in bed.
I'm into crystals and good energy and harnessing more. It's just like prayer. It helps you be grateful, think about good things, and keep that positive energy around you.
I was kicked out of the house, and I was really difficult as a kid. I'm happy it happened because I was able to grow so much from it, you know? It's always hurtful to feel that you can't be on the same page with people that you love as much as your family. Sometimes they don't know how to deal with all the things that are coming at them.
I never had any technical training. I never considered that, one day, I'm going to be Beyonce like a lot of girls aspire to be. It just kind of happened.
A lot of people were getting million-dollar deals from music I felt was trash, because their videos were going viral. I wanted to put out music that had soul, because that's what was missing.
I don't operate on fear, and I don't let fear control me.
While performing, I can't wear anything that I'm not going to be able to dance in or heels that don't have ankle support.
Spanish is such an important language globally.
My father is my hero. No matter what, I'll always forgive him.
When I start something, I have to finish it, and I'm a super perfectionist, too.
I didn't want to go to school, because I wanted to be an artist, and they were never going to teach me art. None of my family had ever done that kind of stuff either.
I've always considered myself a person of color.
I was one of those people at one point who was scared to put my foot down and show where the boundaries were. For me, it's really important to stand your ground and know exactly what you are, where you wanna be, and what you're doing, or else people are gonna try you.
You're taught that it's not very likely for you to become successful... that odds are you're going to be a struggling artist for the rest of your life.
Back in the day, I used to get really upset when people used to say that I didn't really make all my own things - like my art or my videos or whatever. I work really hard on everything, so it used to upset me when people would try to discredit me or say that I wouldn't have what I had without this person or that person.
It's easy to just write about love, because everyone can relate, but I like variety.
I can only be inspired if I'm working with people that I really respect.
The first time I did a show, I definitely didn't get any money. My friend just let me do this show. I was so nervous: my mic didn't work, and I was like, 'Urgh.' It was terrible. It was a dingy club off of the highway, but all these people came. It was packed out.
I'm Colombian. My family all have different complexions; some are people of color. I've been called every name by white people, been mocked for speaking in Spanish by white people.
No one can decide what you should do, what course of action you should take to get where you wanna go, except for yourself.
Just because someone is your family member doesn't mean they're a good person.
It's really natural for me to write bilingually.
Every time I go out to do shows, it just becomes a little bit more real and a little bit more full, so I'm excited just to see it hit its next level.
As an artist, you have to work hard for things that you can't really hold in your hand. I work not for money but for my career, to expand myself as an artist. Every video I make, it's not making me any money; it's just because I want to expand.
We're all born into whatever citizenship, circumstances, or class we happen to be born into. Immigrants and so many people in the working class work so hard every day for nickels and pennies and scraps to just barely get by and then realize that this precious life has been completely drained out of us.
La India's voice is so powerful. It will give you life.
When I'm making a song, I try not to think about audience or genres. It's free-flowing. Natural.
I'm a big Gorillaz fan.
I just like stuff that's raw, itself, real and genuine. I think that's the way art should be. That's the kind of stuff that people can connect to more.
I like lowriders and music from the '50s and '60s. A lot of people assumed I was Mexican.
I was a very creative child. I played the saxophone and piano, and I was always writing poetry and stories, or drawing in my notebook. I just tried to express myself through as many creative outlets as possible. And in high school, I started to get really into photography and videography and would spend hours working on it.
I wasn't into social media at all, but when I decided I was going to put out my own music, I said, 'Okay, I'm just going to post it.' And that's when it started its rounds on the Internet, and people started to take an interest in me.
I really try to balance my feminine and masculine energy when I write.
I was really grateful for the photography classes, the art classes, and the video classes. They would let me skip all my other classes and stay and work on my projects.
I think it's boring when everybody wears the same brands or the same styles, and it's like, 'Oh, this is the new trend.'
It was really important for me to understand that I needed to provide for myself, and I needed to become a provider for my own family, too.
I am very much an artist. I like painting and collaging.
When I was 18 or 19, I realized that everything I was doing was connected to music - writing, doing videos, making my clothes. It all centered around being an artist. So I released a mixtape that I made in my bedroom, and it ended up getting a lot more attention than I expected.
