Kali Uchis Effect

About

Kali Uchis Effect refers to a TikTok trend where users are asked to post before versus after listening to the Colombian American singer Kali Uchis. The trend began in March 2023 under Uchis's original sound for the song "Moonlight" combined with the Finn Wolfhard snapping meme to showcase the transformation.

Origin

On December 23rd, 2022, Colombian American singer Kali Uchis^[1] used her TikTok account to share a snippet of the song^[2] "Moonlight," garnering 2.6 million plays and 678,000 likes in four months. The music was officially released on February 24th, 2023 on all streaming platforms.

With the release of Kali's third studio album Red Moon In Venus on March 3rd, 2023, fans of the singer started a TikTok trend showing photos of themselves before versus after they discover the Colombian American singer. TikTok^[3] user @magmatismm was the one that started the Kali Uchis Effect trend on March 8th, 2023, garnering 4.4 million plays and 1.3 million likes in two weeks. She used a Finn Wolfhard snapping meme to serve as a transition cut for the video. (seen below)

Spread

The trend quickly spread on TikTok, and the sound for "Moonlight"^[4] accumulated 45,100 videos uploaded on the platform in late March 2023. For instance, TikTok^[5] user @skzdesireee uploaded her Kali Uchis Effect video (seen below, left) on March 15th, showing the chorus of Uchis’s “Moonlight” fading and Finn Wolfhard's “snaps” to reveal more glamourous look. The video garnered 4 million plays and 1.2 million likes in one week. TikToker^[6] @theycravelolito made a male version of the trend (seen below, right) on March 9th, receiving 1.3 million plays and 323,000 likes in two weeks.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References