Rita Ora’s new single, “All Natural” is out now and the singer shares how she decided to bare it all on the track and in the music video. She talks about her 13 year career in the music industry, what fans can expect from her new album, the success of “Black Widow” and “For You” with Liam Payne, starring in ‘Voltron’ aside Henry Cavill, her friendship with Charli XCX and more!
What do you think of “All Natural?” Let us know in the comments!
00:13I think I wrote the best song ever to my husband, Taika.
00:17Yeah, and he was like, wow, this is so different for you.
00:22And that's what I wanted.
00:22I really wanted a gear shift.
00:24I really wanted to become really sort of naked vocally.
00:28Billboard has always been that ultimate,
00:31like global stamp of approval.
00:4013 years of Rita Ora, like since I started, is crazy.
00:46I'm preparing a new project, and you guys,
00:50I'm like literally itching.
00:52My skin is like literally bubbling from the inside
00:56from excitement.
00:57I am over the moon that I'm here,
01:00and I'm able to like set a whole new president,
01:04stage, world, with you guys.
01:07And I'm very excited about it.
01:15Even with heat that was, that is on the album,
01:18it's a different persona to that.
01:20I'm really excited about this, because I think it's going to be a genuine sonic surprise for people.
01:32The song is like so simple, you know, and I think that like,
01:35that's what I was obsessed with.
01:38I worked on it with Joel Little, my girl Casey, and Sam.
01:47And us three kind of went to Joel Little's house, who is a New Zealander that did some incredible music,
01:55like with Lorde and Taylor Swift.
01:57And I mean, he's one of like the goats.
01:59And I really wanted him to push me in a alternative like way.
02:04And I think he did that by, you know, making me sing outside of the box, like trying to push me on my performance,
02:10and how to vocally like explore what I can do different.
02:1413 years of kind of being in the same rhythm.
02:16I just wanted to see what I could do that made me feel uncomfortable.
02:21And together we found this medium of like pop, dark, sexy, sensual, intimate, like, I don't know, like just approach.
02:32And so all natural, the music video, you'll see like how I look now, which is my sort of everyday look.
02:43And then how I have this like alter ego in my brain, which is like Rita, which is, you'll see me.
02:51It's like another character.
02:52She's got like blonde hair and like dark eyebrows and looks a little slightly different.
02:57And it's like I'm fighting with myself.
02:59So you'll see a lot of like self-reflection, affirmation, body expression.
03:04You know, me sort of moving to release a lot of things and speaking to you all with my body.
03:11I've never actually shot a music video like this before, where movement is kind of the frontal of the performance.
03:18And so I really loved the interpretation of art in that sense of like just wearing one look and expressing myself through my body.
03:27And it not being perfect and it feeling clumsy and like, I'm okay with that.
03:32And it's another way of saying like, I'm here, I'm free.
03:37And the song is like in my bones.
03:40My husband shot the video, which made me feel even more comfortable.
03:49And he is like my biggest champion.
03:52And, you know, I don't want this campaign to be about relationship or to be about anything apart from yourself and how you feel with yourself.
03:59But to have him there to shoot my video for me, I can tear up because it made me feel so comfortable and free.
04:06And I love that feeling because this album is all about that.
04:11It's about like the sense of freedom, comfortability, connection with people.
04:16And yeah, I'm very grateful for him for that.
04:23He's called you the ultimate party guru.
04:26Do you feel like you live up to that?
04:28You know, I'm proud of my ultimate party guru stamp.
04:31You know, I think I'm going to let others speak for me like that have partied with me that you probably will interview.
04:37To be like, is Rita really like that party guru?
04:42I mean, me and Charlie XCX, I feel like, go so back.
04:46And we're each other's party partners.
04:48And let me tell you something.
04:49There's nothing better than being on the same wave with the partners that you party with.
04:54And then you continue the memories.
04:56So like, I'm like, where's Charlie at?
04:58Because, you know, it becomes a thing where you need them in the party scene to like get back on that same energy.
05:06And so Charlie is one of those people where it's like, where is she?
05:09Because like, it's not going to be the same, you know?
05:18You know, with Black Widow, that was like my introduction to, I guess, global success.
05:24You know, I think for my whole career, it's been really territorial, like where things have popped off and it's all happened at like different times.
05:32So like obviously being from London, things sort of really started there.
05:36And then they moved into Europe and then like we went to Asia and then we like expanded to sort of like different parts of the world.
05:42And weirdly, like America was kind of the last place to really connect, I guess, the American dream.
05:49Right. But like at the same time, it's always been it is what it is for me.
05:53Like I just am just grateful to be like success, success anywhere.
05:57So when America kind of clicked and Black Widow came to life and I just felt like, wow, all right, this is kind of global now, you know?
06:07And Billboard has always been that ultimate like global stamp of approval, you know, especially like with the world chart.
06:14Like I'm always looking at the world chart and Black Widow will always hold that like real space in my heart because it changed a lot of things for me.
06:24Fifty Shades of Grey, which I was also in and I suggested, like, can I be on the soundtrack because I really wanted to, I don't know, just kind of get in there as much as possible with the franchise.
06:40And I was such a fan of the book and I had this really great idea for you, the song.
06:45And so when they said, yeah, I was like, OK, because the song is perfect.
06:49It's got these big like theatrical strings and stuff and it needed a duet.
06:55Right. And I was like, this needs to be more of a love song.
06:57And then, you know, Liam Payne just really slid into it so naturally.
07:09He was like the perfect fit.
07:11He was doing his own record at the time.
07:12And the producer that made this record with me was working with Liam.
07:16And so it really naturally kind of happened.
07:19And we went into the studio in London.
07:21We did it.
07:22And I was like, whoa, this is what it needed.
07:25And it was such a great reaction from his fans, from my fans.
07:30And also it being like a love song and it really connecting as a duet.
07:34I've got goosebumps, obviously, because, you know, Liam Payne's no longer with us.
07:38And so I will forever be grateful to have that memory with him.
07:41And now this song will live forever and it will be our memory.
07:46And so I'm happy that we are now all able to share Liam's memory together with this record.
07:52We should totally hit the sauna together.
07:54Totally.
07:55You know, I think my film career has really kind of like gone into its own direction.
08:00And I'm so grateful for it because I've grown up loving women that can do multiple things.
08:05You know, from Cher to Lady Gaga to Jennifer Lopez.
08:09And really seeing how these women take control of their careers.
08:13Love ain't it.
08:14And nothing's as sweet as we need to feed all your enemies.
08:19I'm at this point where I'm in Descendants.
08:21You know, it's a huge franchise for Disney.
08:23And I see like five-year-olds coming up to me.
08:26And like the fans have really now gone into a new direction.
08:29And they think I'm mean because the Queen of Hearts is sort of like this kind of evil character.
08:33And I love playing, I love playing a villain.
08:36It's epic.
08:37I get all my inspiration from RuPaul's Drag Race.
08:40And it's like the ultimate inspo because everything is dramatic.
08:45Everything has an intention and it could mean something else.
08:49And so my inspo is all about that.
08:52Anyway, I love being a part of this.
08:55Brandy, my idol, like again, a vocal icon.
08:57And so I'm like having, working with her and then singing with her as well for the Descendants like soundtrack.
09:03I'm like, girl, what is my life?
09:07Yeah.
09:09Sterling K. Brown, Henry Cavill.
09:12I am so grateful.
09:14You know, Voltron is so exciting.
09:17I can't speak too much about it.
09:19But all I can say is like, it's a Rita Ora classic.
09:22It's going to surprise you.
09:30The language that we have as women is so, it's like a universal language.
09:34How we are, like what we do as mothers, as sisters, as best friends and you know, the way that we kind of just exist in the world and understanding an attraction to something or to someone that it's different for everyone.
09:48Right.
09:49And so I loved that idea.
09:52I loved that idea of like exploring how to play with attraction.
09:56And that's where the idea of all natural came from.
09:59All natural is literally the existence of a woman.
10:04I literally feel like, you know, being a public figure is, as people might think, you know, it's like, it's incredible.
10:13And then it's also like extremely difficult.
10:15Right.
10:16The lie and say it doesn't hurt me seeing sort of things happening online or trolls or some people not liking you.
10:22And I get not everyone's going to like me and I'm fine with that.
10:26You know, it's kind of one of those things where it's now like my fans love me.
10:31I love them.
10:32We have this incredible like union conversation.
10:35I have an idea that like I'm speaking to people that want to be spoken to.
10:40And I think I'm really comfortable with that.
10:43I want this album to feel like something has just like hit you in the face.
10:55So like, you know, when you drink a drink and it's super cold and you get this like crazy ice brain freeze.
11:02That's kind of how I want you guys to feel when you hear my record where it's like, what?
11:07And then you're like, that was nice.
11:09Like it's almost like feeling like a head rush has arrived.
11:14You know, like when you get up too fast and you're like, whoa, I've got a head rush.
11:17It's like that.
11:18Because I think that this record feels it's all about the feeling, you know, I think that that's kind of what I want people to take away with it.
11:25The vulnerability, the openness, but also like the love that you have for yourself, you know, and that's kind of what this is.
11:31My last record was about celebrating my relationship because that was all I was inspired by because like I got married or whatever.
11:37But this time it's more about you and me, baby.
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