Biting on the tongue and direct verse, the Barcelonan Lia Kali has managed in recent months to gain a foothold with songs like Volvernos a amar or Falso, which have exceeded a million listeners on Spotify, a diffusion that she now intends to promote in the presentation of Against all odds, the first album by a voice that has drank from the classics to end up with the urban rhythms with which it tears apart its emotions. Verses without contemplation that tonight can be heard in the Apolo room (8 pm).
The title of the album is understood after listening to the first song, a crude tour of the admission to the Adolescent Crisis Unit (UCA) of Sant Boi, the center of the place that Lia Kali, then (and now) Julia Isern, visited by force with 14 years, discovering a world that has persecuted him until turning it into this torrent of verses fired with rage. “It was necessary for people to find out what was happening,” explains the artist, referring to the song that opens the album, recalling how during her fleeting visit to the UCA in Sant Boi, she was given medication without a psychiatric prescription and shared income with young immigrants. that they were only there because they did not know where to take them.
Freed from her demons, the artist talks about her disappointments and joys in songs like It hurts me or False, recalling a troubled past, where “I’ve been everything they didn’t want / I brought home the worst storms / The night and the hahas / The strong ones kill themselves†can be heard in Los jajas. Personal stories that run through an album where Lia strips naked to move from darkness to light accompanied by names like Toni Anzis, Daax, Nanpa Básico, Accion Sánchez or SFDK. “I love sitting down with another person who has a different vision than mine and who brings new ideas that escape me.”
The jump to the stages of Lia Kali was premature. Influenced by her father, also a musician, who introduced her to soul, reggae and jazz, she began to perform in bars, festivals and of course on the street. There, touring the jams in Barcelona on a bicycle, he came into contact with rap and hip hop, which he added to what he had learned in his own home where he listened to Mala RodrÃguez, one of his references, although Naty Peluso, RosalÃa are also (“I listen to Motomami a lotâ€), Billye Holliday, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald or Sofia Gabanna. “I grew up in Barcelona, ​​it is the cradle of all thisâ€, she explains, highlighting the city’s musical offer. “Every day you have different shows, one day I’m watching jazz at JazzsÃ, or in the air vent rapping with my colleagues, there’s a very rich scene, there’s a lot of art on the street.”
In his career he has been part of a tribute band to Amy Winehouse with which he performed for six years, a period that ended with the arrival of the pandemic and the closure of music in public. “Either I start writing or I shoot myself” thought Lia, who sought luck in the La Voz program as well as participating in the bands Sibi·la3 and Lupita’s Friends as well as collaborating with artists such as Sofia Gabanna, Santa Salut, Elane, Hard GZ, Denom, Delaossa. A path of experimentation that changed when she, tired of singing for others, she undertook her solo career against all odds.
