Music

You don’t know Rita Ora

Four years after her last album, the ubiquitous pop star is readying her musical return – an album about finding love with director Taika Waititi – and shutting out relentless public criticism of her every move. A lot has changed
Rita Ora GQ Hype interview
Dress, £3,440, and necklace, £4,310, Gucci. Tights, £19.99, Calzedonia.Richard Dowker

Rita Ora is reaching for something. On a November night in a music studio in deep West London, the singer is standing in front of a microphone, stretching her voice like stringy dough to, as she puts it, “stack the hook” on a new song. Her face screws up as she twists her vocal cords around a “Yeah, yeah” pop sound. 

“Fuck,” Ora mutters under her breath after she jumps in too early, hair pulled back off her face, wearing a cosy cropped mohair sweater and grey yoga pants. Two songwriters, Ines Dunn and Sakima, and Mustafa Omer, one half of Grammy-winning production duo Mojam, consult from the leather couches behind her. There are seaweed thins and bottles of water strewn across the seats like it’s a sleepover. It’s so dark outside that I don’t even realise the room has windows. Ora tries it again, first with clarity, and again, then softer and more wistful. “That was nice,” Ines says. Producer James Murray, the other half of Mojam, nods in agreement from where he sits hunched over a computer. He slots the successful take into a game of sonic Tetris on the screen. 

Everyone seems satisfied, except Ora. “Can we try one more?” she says. 

Bodysuit, £690, Stella McCartney. Necklace, price on request, Cartier.

The studio is where, in lieu of talking about her publicly dissected personal life to the press, Ora can get into it on her own terms. It’s been a little over four years since she last did that, on 2018’s Phoenix, but being Rita Ora – one of the most ubiquitous presences in British popular culture – it feels like she hasn’t really disappeared in the in-between time. Ora is never still: beyond the music, she’s an actor, TV presenter, judge on ITV’s The Masked Singer, and one of the faces of Prada. Ora’s graft and visibility have earned her both industry respect and a complex public reputation. 

She’s such a lucrative asset for the MailOnline that, a week into 2023, they’d written more than a dozen stories about her, mostly about the bikini photos she posted to her 16.1 million followers on Instagram, and her relationship with film director Taika Waititi. For years, the popular US celebrity podcast Who? Weekly dedicated a slot in their show to the absurdity of said tabloid headlines and Ora’s social media presence, titled “What’s Rita Ora Up To?”. It even had its own theme song. Among the tabloids’ obsessions: her relationships (including her recent marriage); the now-debunked rumour that she was Beyoncé’s arch nemesis, Becky with the Good Hair; her “plunging” red carpet outfits; and her controversial Covid-era lockdown party.

Over time she has become, as Spin once said, the music industry’s “go-to pinata”, even if most of the “controversies” are misunderstandings, or often, as Ora will tell me, fabricated entirely. 

To counteract it, Ora says, she takes control. That’s where the music comes in. When she feels like she reaches a new chapter in her life and has something to say, she momentarily retreats away from the spotlight and into the studio. And that is what she’s doing. That spark came a year and a half ago, when she fell in love, and work began on her forthcoming third album, due for release in 2023. 

The album is the next step in Ora reclaiming her story. Last year, when Ora signed a new record deal with Sony BMG, she gained full ownership of her masters, a recent trend among many, mostly female artists to avoid their back catalogues being sold without their permission. “I’ve always had that in me, being in control,” she says now, session over, legs curled on the leather sofa. “My mother is a big inspiration for that.”


You said that you only return to music when you want to capture a moment. Can you describe that moment? 

I have this presentation I do for everyone I work with, so we’re all on the same page: what’s the language? What’s the purpose? What’s the connection? I tell everyone my journey. [With the album, I’m] capturing this moment in my life where I’m falling in love. There are things I talk about on it, very personal thoughts, about what it took for me to decide on this person, and to commit to him.

With this album, I’ve just been very brave and confident. I’ve written a lot of songs on this album, I've been in every session, and if not, I've altered songs to fit me. I've never done that before with any album: really done all the work and written every single song or been a part of every single song process.

What changed?

The position I got myself in: owning my masters and having control creatively. I’m in a different seat on the bus now. 

You’re driving it.

I feel like I’m driving it! So now I’ve got this power, why don’t I give it a shot? My confidence grew as a songwriter. I can suggest things in the room and not feel silly about it. I’m way more confident about my ideas and my visions.

I find it strange, considering your success musically, that you have self-doubt. 

I never really committed to the songwriting as much with the first and second album as I have with this, but after a few weeks of getting into the groove of it, I realised I could really do this. I can stand and sing on the mic forever, but in understanding the world of songwriting I was getting a bit nervous, because it’s a very vulnerable and open album. 

It’s my love story, basically, to the world, but I wanted people to really connect to it. There’s different faces of love: it’s not just being in love with a person. You can be in love with going and getting a pint, which is my favourite thing to do.

That’s what the record’s about?

Yeah, I love a Guinness. I like to go and watch concerts with my friends too.

What shows have you been to recently?

I went to see Fontaines D.C., the rock band, and this girl Holly Humberstone, who I love. I was like the oldest person in the room. 

Tops, £550 and £720, and bottoms, £350, all Miu Miu.

Do you consider what you’re making now a pop record?

100 per cent. I don’t really understand the difference now, because some artists have been really brave and moved into different fields, like my friend Miley [Cyrus]. I think she’s doing an amazing job just being an artist.

I love pop music, but I have a surprisingly [broad taste]: everything from Patti Smith to Joni Mitchell to Fontaines D.C., Primal Scream and Led Zeppelin. That makes my pop music way juicier. I tried to do this with this record, trying to make things more raspy in places, and have a bit more grit and flavour and body. I wanted to bring the heritage of what I love about British music to it too; the history of it and remembering my era: the ’90s. There was also more of an attitude, you know? It was really cool, the ravers and the DJs, like Fatboy Slim. That’s what I used to listen to and love.

A lot of your career decisions are equally eclectic, like The Masked Singer. Why did you say yes to it?

I thought it was a fun, easy breezy [job], and it felt like a good idea to sit alongside Jonathan [Ross], who I’ve loved since day one, Davina [McCall], who’s my TV icon, and Mo [Gilligan], who I met during the show. It makes your job so much easier when you love the people around you. I don’t want to walk away from that family right now, but you never know what’s going to happen.

How do you know what to say yes to?

I don’t. I just do what I like. I’m reading a script at the moment and it’s really exciting. It starts in February.

Is this the Disney film?

Yeah, The Pocketwatch [a forthcoming Disney musical in which Ora plays The Queen of Hearts]. There’s big music numbers and stuff. I was just reading that the other day and a couple of other things have come in too. I definitely want to do it all.

In your recent Louis Theroux documentary, you discussed the prospect of failure and staying afloat because you know what it’s like to have nothing. Did you feel like that influences your decision to be polymathic in entertainment?

My decisions don't stem from fear – I want to be really clear on that. That's always a thought in my mind, you know. You'll never lose that sort of fear, but all the decisions I make are because creatively it makes sense. 

I read a story about an album’s worth of material you and Calvin Harris made that was scrapped at his request. [Harris and Ora dated in 2014.] A journalist, George Griffiths, tweeted about it, claiming your career could have been different if it had seen the light of day. Calvin responded saying there was only one unreleased song and it wasn’t that good.

[Ora lets out an exasperated laugh.] That sounds so funny. I guess it’s just each to their own story. I’ve got my own and I’ve said it already. I said it eight or nine years ago. We’re in such a different place now. 

The new music?

Not only that – new life, new me. It was so long ago. I don’t even want to [acknowledge it], honestly… 

Do you like speaking about your feelings?

I love to sing about my feelings. I like to make music about my feelings. That’s where it should live. The music, for the first time, will explain the questions people are going to want to ask me. 

Dress, £850, KNWLS. Gloves, £265, Thomasine. Necklace, price on request, De Beers.


Six weeks later, when we speak again, Ora is packing her belongings, preparing for a return to London from a recently flooded Los Angeles.

To be under such relentless forensic scrutiny must make for a strange existence, you’d assume, until you meet Ora and realise her coping mechanism is perhaps the only logical one: to pretend that it doesn’t exist. “I don’t know if I can judge myself from the names that I’ve been called over the years,” she says. “Trust me, there’s been a lot of them.”

The MailOnline has written over 50 stories mentioning her in the interim: about The Masked Singer, which has started airing; her Christmas spent in St Barts; her stint on The Voice Australia; and a music video shoot for the new album’s first single, “You Only Love Me”. 

It’s one of the earliest tracks Ora worked on, “at the very start of my romantic journey with my partner and best friend,” she says, shaped by the same kind of cataclysmic, self-flagellating lyricism that’s present in her past work. “I wanted to capture the vulnerability that I experienced at the very start – at a time when I was opening myself up to love and what felt like the beginnings of a new phase of my life.” In it, she ruminates over the idea of being undesirable. “I don’t hide [my insecurities], which I’ve always been taught,” she says. “My parents told me that I should be proud of who I am, even if it’s not for the best things, because somebody out there will realise they feel like that too.”

Bodysuit, £690, and skirt, £990, Stella McCartney. Necklace, price on request, Cartier.  Knickers, £14, Boux Avenue. Bangle, £795, Shaun Leane.


When we last spoke, I felt like your honesty had a guard to it, perhaps out of necessity. If the public could access all of you, what would that change?

I think I’m waiting to find that out with this album. I talk about absolutely everything, from my personal and professional life to the journey [I took] to get to this point. What do I think it’s going to do? I hope it makes me more personable. I hope it makes people know more about me. I’ve been open, but I’ve had my wits about me. That’s my protection.

Do you feel like the way tabloids have written about you has changed since you settled down with Taika?

I had a conversation with my girlfriends about this the other day: 100 per cent. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I just feel like maybe the world of journalism is thinking, “Now that’s off the cards, what are we going to do?” They’re having a crisis meeting! Once that opportunity is gone, they’re fortunately going to have to write about my work, which is what I’ve always wanted anyway. 

I think back to the manic coverage of the early days of your relationship, like when it was widely speculated that you and Waititi were in a throuple with Tessa Thompson. How often have you had to bite your tongue?

I just chose to not acknowledge that because it’s ridiculous. I think when some things are so absurd, and it’s hard to fathom any sense of it, you just have to ignore it. I’ve taken that approach for a lot of things, because you don’t want to put energy towards something that’s nonexistent. It’s like trying to explain something that didn’t happen means you’re feeding into nothing.

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve had a lot of drinks and everyone’s your best friend? And then the next day you’re like, “I was talking to this person in the smoking area for four hours and I’ve got no idea who they are?” Literally – that [photo] was just a bunch of friends having a good time. They [Taika and Tessa] had a crazy schedule and everyone was letting loose. I love that. Each to their own.

The good news though, is that when I was on Twitter talking to my fans, all of my incredible LGBTQIA+ fanbases were like, actually – whether this is true or not – I’m so inspired that this is being normalised publicly. That made me really happy. You don’t know who it’s touching.

Have you ever found tabloid attention overwhelming?

Yeah, there have been moments where it's been unbearable, and I'm like, “Maybe this isn't worth it.” But you don't want to give up your dream and everything you've done to get to this point for a moment in time that will eventually just move on. You don’t want to bite the bait and ruin everything you’re doing. You’re doing the dream job. I sing for a living. It’s insane. It’s not a normal job.

I think at that moment, when you're super down – which is where I have been in the past, and that's why my family and friends are so important to me – patience is really helpful, too. You realise that time heals and then you can get back on your feet. It's a really thin line, you know; I'm never ungrateful for the job. [But] no one's really gonna understand that world if you're not in it. It's really difficult to mentally understand it. You can't train for this shit.

Bra, £250, and knickers, £100, La Perla. Skirt and leggings, prices on request, Dsquared2. Shoes, £225, Russell & Bromley.

When did you know that Taika was the right person for you?

When I didn’t feel a change, like my life just became better. We were really good friends for six years, and I went to Australia and we both had separate jobs, and we didn’t really know that many people out there. It was nice to see a familiar face and our universes just collided. That was it. 

Were you in a place where you were ready to settle down?

It was our bond that made me think, “I’m ready to settle down.” I never think about things like that because I don’t want to jinx anything.

Can you recall a recent moment that made you realise you were really happy?

I guess when I got the mastered [version] of my record. I listened to it, sat in the car, and was like, “Wow, I kind of did alright on this one.”

You listened to the record for the first time in your car?

For the masters, yeah, I’ll always do that. The good speakers.

I feel like being on the move when I’m listening always helps me fall in love with something. 

Where do you listen to it, in the car?

Rita I’m gay; I don’t drive! On public transport. 

Stupid me! Silly me!

Where have you felt the most accepted?

In the gay community, honestly. Because I think you have to be really outspoken to stick up for yourself. That takes a lot of courage and confidence. That’s something I feel like I have to do because I say things that are not agreed with by everyone. I do feel like that’s similar to the LGBTQIA+ community: having that ownership over yourself. 

You mentioned a track, when we last spoke, called “The Girl in the Mirror”. You said it was a song about coming to terms with yourself. What is it that you’re coming to terms with?

There’s a part in the song where the lyrics go: “I cheated on you in the best way / with someone I've known my whole life / I know that you can’t forgive me / but this just feels so right”. I’m singing to the bad version of me, saying “I’m cheating on you, because I loved myself my whole life and only just noticed it.”

Do you feel like you’re becoming a new person then?

Yeah, I guess. It’s also a way of me shedding away all the ju-ju that I’ve been holding on to. My own demons that I had. I think [that song] is an example of [me saying] “I’m going to look after me now.”

You’ve spent years having your reputation altered by other people, in places you don’t have much control over. Looking back, what do you think people have gotten wrong? 

That I’m superficial and I’m not down to earth, but that’s me thinking of my worst nightmare. I want people to hear me out and say, “Good for her. She’s found something that really works for her.” Here’s the truth: I feel a real genuine shift. I hope it’s in the music, because I’ve felt it within myself. 

Rita Ora's new single, “You Only Love Me”, is out on 27 January

Top, £340, Lanvin. Skirt, £555, Ann Demeulemeester. Bra, £250 and knickers, £215, La Perla. Bracelet, price on request, and rings, £6,250 and POA, De Beers.

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Photographs by Richard Dowker
Styling by Angelo Mitakos 
Makeup by Marie Bruce 
Hair styling by Lisa Laudat
Manicurist Michelle Class