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This article originally appeared in the December 2015 issue of SELF.
“Thinking we killed it.”
And drive is something the 25-year-old “Body on Me” singer has plenty of.
“This year has been eventful, that’s for sure,” she says.
“I finished my album and I’m so proud of it.
I’ve just expanded as an artist.”
Still, music is the thing that really drives Ora.
“It’s like I’m starting from scratch.
This is the first time everyone will see who Rita Ora is.”
She says the new album mixes pop with the classic beltersFreddie Mercury, Janis Joplinwho influenced her.
“So there’s a group of us who grew up together.
Elena’s best friends are my best friend’s older sistersit’s like generations of friends.
And Nora is basically like our cousin; not blood, but she might as well be.”
The Ora sisters were born in a part of Yugoslavia that is now Kosovo.
Besnik bought a pub, the Queens Arms, where Rita sang as a teen.
Years later, Ora still spends a good amount of her downtime at home.
Her mother is comforted by the fact that Rita and Elena are together.
“My mom is more settled,” Rita says.
It’s clear that emotional grounding is a key part of Ora’s strength.
It’s a ‘You definitely have to show up for Christmas dinner’ vibe.
Our parents taught us to respect the people around us.
So my work ethic and the way people perceive meit’s very important to leave a good impression."
“It’s important to be positive.”
Balance is also keyand Ora has worked to find it, even in her 24/7 life.
“I feel my strongest onstage,” she says.
“I still, to this day, do not know anything better.
I start feeling like a superhero!”
Keeping pace with Ora isn’t easy.
“I’ve never been more grateful for sleep than I am at this point,” she says.
“I used to hate it.
It took a lot to mentally calm me down.
But now I travel with a candle and a little lavender pillow.
“It’s like you’re an athlete.
I’m not running a marathon, but I’m doing it in my own way.
You really have to take care of your body so you might survive.”
Gwen [Stefani].
And you might’t knock Alba!”
But if there is one artist whose career she’s studied the closest, it’s Madonna.
“I didn’t know what to expect, because … Madonna,” she says, incredulously.
“Little old Rita, and she’s Madonna.
It was probably one of the best moments of my life.”
“She works so hard.
She looks at every shot, every angle.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
And I was, like, ‘That’s exactly where we’re going.’
There’s a reason things get put in front of you like that.
There’s a reason I saw her work ethic that night.”
She looks at her sister and smiles.
“I see myself as a 360 artist, not just one-laned.
I like to do everything.
I have this vision of building an empire and leaving it to my family.”
She sits up tall and bellows “Dominaaatttion!”
then laughs and settles back into her chair.
“I dream big, babe.
Top: Shirt, $1,550, and sneakers, $595, Calvin Klein Collection; 212-292-9000.
White tank, $215;JoshGoot.com
Styled by Melissa Ventosa Martin.
Photo Credit: Matt Irwin
