♪ [theme music playing]
(Narrator) Chromebook presents
Kali Uchis on “The Adulthood,”
a series about finding your way in the modern world.
(Kali) Hey, everyone.
I'm Kali Uchis on “The Adulthood,”
and we're talking about how to listen to your intuition
and take risks to follow your passion.
You ready?
[chill music playing]
I really always felt that I was very unique,
that my experiences growing up were very unique.
I tried to find any way that I could
to always use that to my advantage.
I learned to read and write Spanish
[birds chirping]
because I went to school in Columbia
when I was really little...
It was really difficult as a kid
to go back to the United States.
Sometimes it's hard to switch on and off,
the English switch, the Spanish switch,
when you’re little and you have to learn
2 different national anthems
and 2 different alphabets.
Although I loved learning,
[pop]
I never agreed with school teaching us to be obedient
and to follow rules more than anything else,
because everybody essentially learns differently.
You should always pursue
whatever makes you feel fulfilled.
I was in some AP classes
and I was like, “I don’t plan to go to college.”
They were like, “What?!”
[record scratch]
Everybody was like, “Are you crazy?!”
You know it’s like, “This is what you’re supposed to do next.”
My personal experiences always made me realize
that what made me the happiest
was when I was creative.
Sometimes when people say like,
"Oh, how did you figure it out?"
It's so personal and it's so unique
to every individual.
It's very much about intuition
and your own relationship to yourself.
Technology, it really helps you understand
that it's such a bigger world out there.
More than anything,
it helped me find a lot of new music
[notes ascending]
and a lot of different genres.
When I first started putting music out,
I was always very proud of where I came from.
I also wanted to sing in Spanish,
but for industry people,
it was very much like,
“Which one are you?”
“Are you Colombian?”
“Are you American?”
“What are we selling?”
[cha-ching]
“Do you sing in Spanish?”
“Or do you sing in English?
“Which one is it?”
But when you really look at it, I mean,
I’m an artist, I'm not a product.
When I was creating Sin Miedo,
a lot of people told me
that it was not gonna be successful…
They said that it's very difficult
to cross over into Latin American music.
I just thought, "Well, okay,
2:07 - [birds chirping]
I don't expect it to be successful.
This is something I feel very called to put out,
so it won't be a failure.
I'll have made it from love
and with pure intention.”
I definitely did not expect for it
to be successful the way that it's been.
It's a nice reminder
that following our intuition
is the most important thing
that we can do.
“Sin miedo” is a very typical phrase in our culture.
My aunt used to say to me a lot,
"Sin miedo, sin miedo!"
It's like kinda like, “Just do it,”
like just going for what you wanna go for
[deep breath]
and doing things without shame.
You should never be afraid of failure.
I think failure is very much a man-made concept.
If you're actually doing what makes you happy
[birds chirping]
and it made you feel fulfilled,
then it’s not a failure.
I'm still learning and growing.
It's very much a process
that I don't know if it ever really ends.
I hope to someday soon feel fulfilled enough
that I'm like, “Okay, my job here is done.”
[big kick]
Drops mic.
[thud]
At the end of the day,
I would remind everyone
they should listen to the voice inside them,
and not all of the voices around them...
and the rest will follow.