Dallas-based R&B singer Kali Flower is currently going with the motion of the ocean. Her latest era, “lost girl SZN,” continues a story she’s had in the making for years. Those who have kept their eyes on Flower — whose real name is Kali Ah Yuen — know that her timing is impeccable. And she’s taken every step of the journey into deep consideration.
The newest chapter of the story began in March, when we were vibing over vinyl records at Common Good Coffee. Flower was just weeks away from performing at RBC to open for Tay Money as part of the rapper’s annual Tay Day celebration on April 5. This marked her biggest performance to date, with backup dancers and a thoroughly choreographed routine. Her Tay Day performance marked the end of her “fuccgirl szn” era, but she was already a step ahead, laying the foundation for what was next.
“I think I’m going to have [director] Jacob Leeks come with me to Hawaii to shoot the visuals for ‘lost girl SZN,’” Kali said as we sipped iced pistachio matcha lattes. “Like, I’m going to tell him, ‘I’ll pay for your flight, let’s just go and work.’”
Shortly after, we went to Kali’s car, where she played two new songs from her upcoming EP, which is set to arrive in the fall. One of the songs was “Bottom of the Ocean,” on which she allows herself to feel all the feels as she processes heartache. “When it’s all said and done / In the end, you become something I’ll never find again / at the bottom of the ocean,” she sang on the song’s chorus.
While the “fuccgirl SZN” era was more rhythmic, “lost girl” features Kali letting her calm, soft-sung vocals guide each track, set to more downtempo, meditative instrumentals.
From Oahu to Dallas
Four months after our conversation at Common Good, we met in the home studio of producer Tristen “Pretty Dim” Stevens. Flower is hot off the official releases of “Bottom of the Ocean" (July 1) and “Lost” (July 15), which features New Mexico native rapper GZO. Between now and our last meetup, she and Leeks did end up going to her hometown of Oahu, Hawaii, to shoot music videos, visualizers and promo images.
This homecoming marked a full-circle moment for Kali. “Whenever I feel lost, I always find my way back to Hawaii,” she says. “And [this trip] really brought everything I was trying to capture to life. There's some footage where I’m walking through the swap meet that I would go to when I was a kid, and doing the hike I do every time I go to Hawaii at Lanikai Pillbox. And also discovering new spots and taking clips there. It was such an adventure, and it was the first time I ever went home to Hawaii, where it wasn't just vacation. Now I'm bringing my music and my passion with me. It was a whole different experience for my family to see because it wasn't like, ‘Oh, she's just here to hang.’ It's like, ‘Oh, she's taking this music seriously.’”
Flower and Stevens began creating the sonic world of “lost girl” about a year ago. At the time, she recalls the people around her dealing with loss in the form of heartache, new life chapters and having to let go of old ways. “I figured ‘Why not find inspiration within that, with what I'm going through, with what we’re going through and let's make something that's going to have an impact,” she says.
The duo began their sessions with a loose approach — no set rules, just going with what felt right. “Bottom of the Ocean” came very quickly to them, so naturally, the two decided to make it the theme song for “lost girl SZN.”
“That beat happened, and she started writing to it,” recalls Stevens. “And maybe it was probably just us being busy as well, but we didn't really go back and forth on it either. It was almost just like a seed was planted.”
For most of her career, Flower has written her songs in journals, her Notes App and Voice Memos. But given the raw, honest nature of this new chapter, she chose to embrace the moment this time around, turning the emotions she felt at the time — whether sadness, joy, or confusion — into art.
“I think at the beginning of this process, I tried to do it like, ‘Let me go home, work on it and then get back to Pretty,’” she says. “But for the most part, I was like ‘If we're going to be vulnerable through this whole process, speaking from the heart, I'm just going to wait until I’m in the actual session and see what we cook up and let it flow off the dome,’ which is very unusual for me because I'm such a perfectionist. I want to have time to make this melody, see what I think, then maybe switch it around, but this time I was like, ‘Let me just let it flow and see what happens.’” Flower keeps tight-lipped about the rest of the creative process, including the actual title of the “lost girl SZN” era’s EP, but teases that fans can enter the world of “lost girl SZN” at a special event called Saltwater Secrets.
Saltwater Secrets will take place on Aug. 14 at Royal Lane Studios at 7:30 p.m. At the event, the studio will be set up to resemble beach and ocean settings, and guests will be encouraged to feel their feelings and let go of negativity as they hear the new music. “I just want people to leave feeling better than they arrived.”
But until then, Flower is still hard at work on her craft. After our conversation, she’ll head over to another studio session. The following evening, she’ll perform at Rene “Cozy” Campos Jr.’s DJ set in the Foundation Room at House of Blues.
Lost in the Music
We see her again at House of Blues, as Kali is in full R&B girly glam mode. Her hair is dyed a sun-kissed orange and she is dressed in a strapless top and white mini-skirt, completing the fit with matching white high-heeled platform shoes. She performs the more pop-forward “Lost,” taking command of a small space near the DJ booth, capturing the eyes of everyone in the room. “It’s amazing to see someone who is a one-stop shop,” says Campos. “She is a musician, she manages herself, she does all the marketing by herself. She's a unicorn…Even on the worst days, she manages to do what she loves the most. And that’s to create. She moves like a boss. She’s a stargirl!”
While “fuccgirl SZN” and “lost girl SZN” show two different sides of Flower, her spirituality has served as the foundation for all of her music. Through manifestation, she’s made almost everything she’s wanted to happen for herself happen. And having created a new world surrounding her music, she feels even more confident stepping into the future of her career.
“I know my purpose, and I think that's the biggest thing that plays a part in my craft,” says Flower. “My purpose is to help other people find their own purpose in everything they're going through — good times and bad times. And that's what I feel like just really allowed me to manifest and pray for this because I know this is so much bigger than me. During ‘fuccgirl SZN,’ I really wanted to be seen by people, but during ‘lost girl SZN’ I want people to feel. It's such a different experience.”
