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Kali Uchis Goes Funk-Silky Alongside Tyler, The Creator And Bootsy Collins

Kali Uchis' "After The Storm" pulls from funk influences and finds the singer right in her groove.
Felipe Q Nogueira
/
Courtesy of the artist
Kali Uchis' "After The Storm" pulls from funk influences and finds the singer right in her groove.

It has been known that Kali Uchis and Tyler, The Creator are dynamite on a track together. Tyler's gravel-gargled rhymes alongside her peachy-sweet tone just work perfectly. But with the singer's debut album on the way, Uchis is diversifying her sound with the infusion of some funk.

The Colombia-born siren floats on her latest track, "After The Storm," with significant assists from both Tyler and funk music legend Bootsy Collins. Uchis compels her fans, as well as herself, to be their own knight in shining armor on the BADBADNOTGOOD-produced track. The slow-burning banger sounds like something straight out of a smoky '70s melodrama.

"If you need a hero / Just look in the mirror," Kali sings, with Bootsy peppering in supporting vocals and ad libs.

Tyler, The Creator serves up his guest verse with syncopated accuracy, adding a reference to his Flower Boy album in the process — a project where he recently expanded his own artistic scope.

Prior to creating the song, Uchis connected with Bootsy via Twitter and made a trip to his Ohio studio (where it was recorded).

"After The Storm" is the latest single off Uchis' forthcoming major label debut album, due out this spring via Interscope/Virgin EMI Records.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Sidney Madden is a reporter and editor for NPR Music. As someone who always gravitated towards the artforms of music, prose and dance to communicate, Madden entered the world of music journalism as a means to authentically marry her passions and platform marginalized voices who do the same.