Preview: Kali Uchis and Jorja Smith at The Anthem
Kali Uchis and Jorja Smtih, two of R&B’s newest songstress’, will join forces for “The Kali and Jorja Tour.” The tour kicks off in DC at The Anthem on April 28, 2019, and you don’t want to miss it. Both Uchis and Smith took the internet, and subsequently the world, by storm in the past few years. While their looks draw most in, the sheer talent they exhibit in songwriting and live performance is enough to pique the interest of even the toughest critic. They effortlessly seam traditional R&B and jazz influence into their respective discographies, but their individuality in aesthetic and precise integration of their unique voices create acts we’ve never seen before. Read on to learn about each act and purchase tickets.
Kali Uchis is a local native who, after returning from attending elementary school in her homeland of Colombia, attended T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Uchis participated in jazz band during her time there, and released her debut mixtape Drunken Babble in 2012 to viral acclaim shortly after graduating. In 2015, she moved to Los Angeles and released her debut EP Por Vida. The EP is star-studded, especially for a debut, securing features from Katraynada, BadBadNotGood, and Tyler, The Creator. Since then, Uchis has collaborated with acts such as Daniel Caesar, Steve Lacy, Vince Staples, and her tourmate, Jorja Smith. In April 2018, Uchis finally released her highly anticipated debut album, Isolation. Isolation received praise from fans and fellow artists alike, and peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200. Seeing as Uchis has not dropped new music since its release, expect to hear tracks from Isolation live on this tour.
Jorja Smith hails from the UK. She was born in Wasall, England. As a child, she was encouraged by her father to take piano lessons and eventually received a music scholarship. After studying classical singing, Smith moved to London at 18 to seriously pursue her music career. Like any other millennial pursuing music independently, Smith uploaded her first single “Blue Lights,” to Soundcloud. In just a few weeks, the song had amassed over 400k listens. Her second single, “Where Do I Go?,” received the infamously coveted Drake cosign, and the rest is history. Since then, Jorja has been featured on Drake’s More Life mixtape and Boy Meets World tour early in 2017. Later that year, she would release her hit single with grime artist Preditah, titled On My Mind. The track, which was an international success, pays homage to the UK’s signature garage sound. One year later, Jorja released her debut album Lost & Found, and has been sporadically touring ever since.
Uchis nor Smith have performed a show in DC at this capacity, so surely they’ll have something special in store for this audience. Get your tickets before they sell out!