Quotes from Kali Uchis

Colombian culture has had a huge influence on me and taught me a different way of looking at things - I was always different from the people I went to school with, and I learned to embrace that.

N.E.R.D. was also from - not too far from where I was from growing up. For a lot of people who make music, that was a huge influence in teen years.

You can consciously make a difference with music. Bob Marley is one of those few artists that everyone can say that they love. He makes you feel good. It's very real.

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 really try to balance my feminine and masculine energy when I write.

I'm not a Barbie doll, I'm just a multidimensional human being who likes to make things.

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.

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.

My father is my hero. No matter what, I'll always forgive him.

I've always been someone who, without wanting to or without trying to, I draw attention to myself sometimes in negative ways. It made me sharp, and it made me quick.

When I'm making a song, I try not to think about audience or genres. It's free-flowing. Natural.

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 always felt you could age with style and grace, or you could age in denial and hold on to issues and never push through.

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.

California feels like Colombia but with less threats. I don't have to be constantly looking over my shoulder.

If you really want to get over someone or something in your life, I suggest you throw on some Ivy Queen. She will have you feeling extra bossy.

I'm naturally sort of a sad person, and that comes out in my music, but when I realized how many people were listening to it... I wanted to be a little more conscious about what I was putting out and what people were going to be taking from it.

My first relationship was from when I was about 15 to 19. My second relationship was kind of like a rebound, but also a really important part of my journey - he was very emotionally manipulative and just wanted me to be an accessory.

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.

Selena is a classic and timeless singer, and she really doesn't need an introduction. Her music is always good for the soul.

The constant pressure to be the perfect, ideal female - there's no such thing.

Some of my writing is very subconscious, and that's definitely what happened with 'Body Language' - I looped some basic bossa nova sounds and just started singing.

I've always been very insecure and had a lot of self-doubt growing up. That was partially because of how I was raised.

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.