Drunken Babble

* Standard
* DatPiff Cover

## Singles

1. "Table For Two"
Released: February 6, 2013
2. "What They Say"
Released: June 26, 2013

***Drunken Babble*** is the debut mixtape by Kali Uchis. It was uploaded for free download on August 1, 2012, through her old account on DatPiff, an online mixtape distribution website.

The mixtape became a trend within the scene *underground* attracting the attention of big artists such as Diplo or Snoop Dogg, with whom she would later work on music.

## Background and development

After two years interested in photography (putting together experimental videos), in addition to working on her music, Kali was expelled from her home for missing classes and breaking the curfew established by her parents. For months, she lived in her car and wrote songs on her MacBook, which then too*k* shape. After graduating, she began recording the project, explaining that the last five songs were made the night she released the mixtape which resulted her first job in her career when she was only 19 years old.

After its release, Kali didn't find out about the viral success she had until months later, and then, in late 2014 she ended up deleting the mixtape out of shame and not considering it part of her discography. However, fans later posted copies of the mixtape on SoundCloud and YouTube, drawing the attention of Tyler, The Creator, Snoop. Dogg, among others. The latter in particular decided to collaborate with Kali after seeing her music video for "What They Say" in June 2013. "On Edge" was featured on the rapper's 2014 mixtape, *That's My Work 3.13*.

Kali talked about the mixtape in several interviews during 2014:

## Composition

The mixtape was recorded and produced through GarageBand and contains different samples and vocal references, such as the soul of Brenton Wood, Astrud Gilberto and The Dells. There are also songs with touches of Bob Marley's reggae, new wave and also synth-pop. It was described as "genre-defying", noted for this influences.

Lyrically, Kali's lyrics and way of interpreting is highly influenced by rap and the old school. So although she speaks of love or breakups in the songs, she doesn't do it in a subtle way. She shows to be a very forward person but who in turn hides many insecurities. That contrast can be seen throughout the mixtape, at the beginning it is all rap, and a little "violent" but after "Table For Two" it is more chill and calm.

## Tracklist

It contains 17 tracks, all written and produced by Kali.

* "**\***" = an explicit song.

### Bonus tracks

Three additional tracks were tentatively considered part of the mixtape, although the validity of this is unknown. The tracks are "MULTI", "Birthday Song" and "Porque Te Vas".

## Trivia

* "Inhale" is the longest song on the mixtape (not counting the 7 minutes of silence in "What They Say") with the length at 3 minutes and 51 seconds, and "He Unkin" is the shortest song lasting for only 29 seconds.
* A remastered (but not official) version of the mixtape can be found online.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20141001081601/http://www.datpiff.com/Kali-Uchis-Drunken-Babble-mixtape.379762.html
2. ↑ https://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/up-up-kali-uchis
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150630194146/http://bandwidth.wamu.org/kali-uchis-im-an-artist-in-every-sense-of-the-word/
4. ↑ https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/bc/kali-uchis-interview-2018
5. ↑ https://hypebeast.com/2014/3/kali-uchis-featuring-snoop-dogg-on-edge
6. ↑ https://thequietus.com/articles/18297-kali-uchis-interview?fbclid=IwAR2L8NlCliSx0njJChtxyUCyRXhZnTlnC2nBsP40FtqdWEjkmvuolFMSp3E
7. ↑ https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/kali-uchis-interview-2020-a4571899.html
8. ↑ https://www.thefader.com/2014/07/15/gen-f-kali-uchis