Raven Clemons

Kali Uchis, I Wish you Roses single cover

Grammy-winning Kali Uchis set her much-anticipated song free with a music video directed by Cho Gi-Seok and inspired by stunning floral imagery. Kali first teased the new song on her social media platforms in November 2022 and other snippets leading up to the January 19 release. 

“I Wish you Roses” marks Uchis’ first single of the year, and she wants to give some advice: Release people with love.

“This song is about releasing people with love. It could be a friend, lover, or someone else. Still, the point is to celebrate releasing people from your life without being resentful or bitter. Kali’s new single isn’t the typical love song; no, she takes the amicable road to the ending of a relationship.

Kali’s delicate vocals start the chorus, wishing someone well after not expecting to lose them. 

Never thought I would be without you

I wish you, love, I wish you well

I wish you roses while you can still smell ’em

With pretty flowers can come the bee sting

But I wish you, love, I wish you well

I wish you roses while you can still smell ’em 

In her interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Uchis shared the inspiration behind her new single. “One of my biggest inspirations was this song I listened to since I was little, Joe Bataan, I Wish You Love. And since I was little, I always thought it was such a beautiful thing because we hear so many songs about that, the bitterness or the anger or the feeling of wanting revenge or the feeling of wishing things had worked out and not having a resentful attachment to those feelings,” she said. 

In the first verse, she speaks of her worth, and she can easily walk away from relationships with such grace and love,

I was a rose in a garden of weeds

My petals are soft and silky as my sheets

So, do not be afraid to get pricked by the thorns

While I’m here, I’m someone to honor

When I’m gone, I’m someone to mourn

But if you and my heart should someday drift apart

I’ll make surе to give you these blеssings because they’re all I’ve got

My love’s deep as the ocean, don’t you drown on me

Just know, any love I gave you’s forever yours to keep

Kali reminds herself to stop taking life and the existence of those she cares about and love for granted – and to understand that even though a relationship didn’t work out, the love will be there. 

The Colombian-American singer won an American Music Award, two Billboard Music Awards and three Latin Billboard Music Awards last year.

This year, she hits the ground running with performances at Coachella, Colombia’s Estéreo Picnic and Lollapalooza in Chile and Argentina. She even hinted that her second and third albums are complete – one completely in Spanish. 

The world will embrace whatever Kali does this year as she wishes well with roses.