Rita Ora managed to go from complete obscurity to one of the biggest acts in the UK, and one of the most promising ones in the US. Her debut album ORA released on August 27 of 2012, is certified gold, making her the only artist in the UK to have three consecutive number one singles. "Hot Right Now", "RIP", and my Friday night jam "How We Do (Party)" all peaked at number one, and her record label Roc Nation/Columbia have their eyes set on making her huge in the states.
Rita performed during Jay-Z's Made in America festival, on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Good Morning America. Her fourth single "Shine Ya Light" was released in the UK on November 4, with the visual being filmed in her home country of Kosovo. Rita described the video as being her best to date, "I was born in a little city called Pristina which no one really knows about, so I’m proud to kind of put it on the map out there a little bit because we are a very patriotic country so we always try and mention us wherever we can because it’s such a great place."
Although there is no set date for the US release of the album, with her label introducing the US market to the Albanian beauty via her single "How We Do (Party)", it is clear that 2013-14 will be when Rita releases her ora on the entire world.
"Young, Single & Sexy" is a favorite track of mine from the deluxe version of ORA. It follows the story of a woman who is tired of waiting for her man to change. She finally gets fed up of him not appreciating her, and decides that she is going to live her life young, single, and sexy.
There is no doubt Rita has what it takes to become huge in the US. She can sing live, has stage presence, a diverse musical pallet, easily gliding across genres, and her look is marketable. The only problem with ORA was in the production, as it was often lackluster on certain songs, but this version is meant to appeal to the UK audience who have a slightly different ear than us in the states. Hopefully Jay-Z can work some magic and give us more songs such as :Young, Single & Sexy," if he wants her to be the next Rihanna.
