Kali Uchis – ‘Orquídeas’ review: a fearless ambassador for Latin pop

After going global from embracing her Latina roots in her music, Kali Uchis is fully exploring that world once again in her new album ‘Orquídeas’. The 29-year-old Colombian-American star strikes a perfect balance between the R&B music that put her on the map and Latin influences that span reggaeton, dembow, and merengue rhythms; Uchis seamlessly switches between singing in English and Spanish across the 14 tracks. It’s also her most personal as she reveals her pregnancy with longtime partner Don Toliver in a ‘Corazón’-felt moment.

Despite initial industry pushback at the prospect of Uchis singing in Spanish, she gleefully proved them wrong in with the global success of 2021’s Spanglish pop romp ‘Telepatía’. That was lifted from her first Latin album, 2020’s ‘Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞‘, where she translated her soulful swagger into Spanish. Following a Grammy win for Best Dance Recording for ‘10%’ with Kaytranada, and exploring disco at the end of last year’s ‘Red Moon In Venus’ album, she keeps things upbeat for her second Latin LP, which is named after the orchid, the national flower of Colombia. In the soulful opener ‘¿Cómo Así?’, she uses her operatic voice to lure the listener onto her genre-bending dance floor: “If you come around here, you’ll never want to leave,” Uchis sings in a few lines of English. It’s all set to be something special.

Uchis unleashes her inner disco diva alongside música Mexicana maverick Peso Pluma. In the dreamy duet ‘Igual Que Un Ángel’, Peso Pluma gets into her funk-infused groove as they sing about a woman that never let the dark side of fame get her down. As an openly bisexual artist, Uchis comes through with anthems for the LGBTQ+ community, including the refreshing reggaeton revamp of ‘No Hay Ley’ with Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro. She also sings about unconditional love in the explosive club banger ‘Labios Mordidos’ alongside fellow Colombian star Karol G. “I love my Brazilians and my Colombians, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans / I love my Mexicans and tonight, I’m a lesbian / You make me feel like it,” Uchis purrs in Spanish.

Uchis masterfully melds her bicultural worlds in the dembow-driven ‘Muñekita’. She is joined by City Girls’ JT and Dominican rapper El Alfa in the fierce and freaky track about a woman living her best life in the club. Uchis later opens her heart in Spanglish in ‘Tu Corazón Es Mío’, in which divulges her pregnancy with Don Toliver. Backed by lush R&B production with Latin percussion, she showers her baby on the way with loving lyrics: “I know that you’re mine entirely / All that you need’s inside of me,” Uchis sings in Spanish. Through her boundless ‘Orquídeas’ albums, Uchis blossoms into a fearless pop ambassador at the forefront of breaking down the divide between music in English and Spanish.