''Ora'' (stylised as ''ORA'') is the debut
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by British singer
Rita Ora
Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...
. It was released on 24 August 2012 through
Roc Nation
Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...
and
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. Musically, ''Ora'' is mainly a
pop album that incorporates
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
elements.
The album's release was preceded by two singles—"
How We Do (Party)
"How We Do (Party)" is a song by English singer and songwriter Rita Ora from her debut studio album, ''Ora'' (2012). The song was written by Andrew Harr, Bonnie McKee, Christopher Wallace, Hal Davis, Jermaine Jackson, Willie Hutch and seven ot ...
" and "
R.I.P."—both of which entered the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number 1 and achieved standard chart positions in charts abroad.
The album also includes the
DJ Fresh
Daniel Edward Stein (born 11 April 1977), better known by his stage name DJ Fresh, is an English musician, DJ, record producer, best known for making electronic music. He is one of the principal members of the drum and bass group Bad Company, ...
collaboration, "
Hot Right Now
"Hot Right Now" is a single by English drum and bass producer DJ Fresh featuring English singer Rita Ora, released on 13 February 2012 as the second single from his third studio album, '' Nextlevelism'' (2012), before later being included as a ...
", which is featured as a bonus track. The album debuted at number 1 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and was certified platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
.
Background and development
In 2008, Ora signed to American record label,
Roc Nation
Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...
. She recorded an album's worth of material with a view to release it, but her label advised against it. Instead Ora began work on different songs to be included on her debut album.
For the recording of the album, Ora enlisted the help of producers such as
will.i.am
William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas.
...
,
The-Dream
Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...
,
The Runners,
The Monarch,
Stargate
''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
,
Chase & Status
Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in Ju ...
,
Greg Kurstin
Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...
,
Jules De Martino
Julian "Jules" De Martino (born 16 July 1967) is an English musician and a member of the pop duo The Ting Tings.
Early life
De Martino was born in West Ham, the son of Northern Irish mother, Rosemary (née Middleton), and Italian father, Benito ...
and
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
.
Ora described the album cover as: "Everything was inspired basically by being bossy, by being independent, and by taking your own. We made sure that everything had character." She explained the title of the album: "Ora is my surname, but it also means time in my country, Kosovo, in
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
, and it definitely took me a long time to get this album – three years to be exact." On 22 July 2012, the official deluxe version album cover was revealed.
Composition
When Ora spoke on the album she stated: "The crazy thing is I wanted the album to sound exactly like the subway, almost as if its just so free and raw."
When speaking about the sound of the album and its concept, Ora said the album "definitely has pop in it, but (...) you can hear influences of jazz in there, you can hear influences of
Monica and
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
, and then you can hear
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
."
Ora described the sound of her album saying "I love
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...
and
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
and
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
. It's old school mixed with a pop kind of stream with a grit. It's got attitude to it but it's not ignorant. It's just a cool album in my eyes."
Reception
Critical reception
''Ora'' has received mixed reviews from music critics. At
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Fred Thomas alluded to how the album "manages to be more captivating than her peers by merit of her real approach to her songs, but sonically the album is somewhat interchangeable", but suggested that multiple listens make this release a "masterpiece of unrepentantly commercial pop".
Tamsyn Wilce of Bring the Noise suggested that the singer "stick with making the brilliant pop hits as seen in the first half of the album".
At
Contactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...
, Dom Gourlay affirmed that the release "is still a worthy introduction to the world of arguably the UK's most credible and slightly left of centre pop star in years".
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
's Robert Copsey stated that "the culmination of 24 months of trend watching, market positioning and image primping on the resulting ''Ora'' does, more often than not, make it feel like a highly calculated exercise, but that doesn't mean she hasn't turned out some genuinely well-crafted songs".
Holly Newins of The Digital Fix told that "is surprisingly convincing, especially with the dance hall influence that is blatant across the album", which she found that the listener will have songs that they will and will not be a fan of.
Furthermore, she said because Jay-Z's involvement that "the ratio of hits to misses doesn't matter anyway", and that he will make sure Rita Ora "will be on your radio for a long time to come".
Drowned in Sound
''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
History
''D ...
's Marcus J. Moore called the album "certainly catchy, and the maker is enthralling", yet the album lacks "any intricate rhythms here and the messages aren't profound".
At ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Michael Cragg found that "there's just too much anonymity".
At ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', Andy Gill evoked that "the album does not give evidence Rita Ora is anything like Gwen Stefani, which she considers her influence, but rather a Rihanna coming from the United Kingdom".
Laurence Green of
musicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
vowed that "the defining feeling here is of something completely and utterly 'produced' – a factory line-up of the biggest names and beats in contemporary pop, machine tooled into something so sleek it's in danger of slipping through the ether entirely".
Scott Kara of ''
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' told that on the release "she wears her influences on her sleeve".
At ''
Time Out'', Sharon O'Connell criticised the album because it contains "so little of Ora here", and suggested that "all Ora really gets to do is channel a sound now so ubiquitous it's carpet-bombed our consciousness".
Commercial performance
''Ora'' debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
with first-week sales of 41,509 copies.
Throughout 2012, the album sold 242,500 copies, becoming the thirty-fifth best selling album of the year. In 2013, the album was certified platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
.
Singles
"
How We Do (Party)
"How We Do (Party)" is a song by English singer and songwriter Rita Ora from her debut studio album, ''Ora'' (2012). The song was written by Andrew Harr, Bonnie McKee, Christopher Wallace, Hal Davis, Jermaine Jackson, Willie Hutch and seven ot ...
" was released as the album's
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
in North America, Australia and New Zealand on 20 March 2012. The single peaked at number 5 in New Zealand and at number 9 in Australia. The song also reached number 62 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. In August 2012, it was released as the second single in the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe. The song reached number 1 in Ireland, becoming her first Irish number-one single. It also reached number 1 in the UK, becoming her third number one single (second as a solo artist) and making Ora the first artist in 2012 to score three number 1 singles on the UK charts.
"
R.I.P.", featuring
Tinie Tempah
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...
, was released as the lead single in Ireland on 4 May 2012, in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2012, and the rest of Europe. The song debuted at the top of the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, becoming her first solo number-one single, and second overall.
[Rita Ora Tops UK Singles Chart](_blank)
MTV, Retrieved 14 May 2012 It was released as the album's second single in New Zealand, Australia and North America.
"
Shine Ya Light
"Shine Ya Light" is a song by English singer and songwriter Rita Ora from her debut studio album, '' Ora'' (2012). The song was written by Chris Loco, Fraser T. Smith and LP, with the production handled by Loco and Smith. It was released as th ...
" was officially released as the third UK single on 4 November 2012. It peaked at number ten in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, making it Ora's fourth top 10 UK single overall in 2012. It also served as a third single in Ireland, where it peaked at number 25.
"
Radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...
" was released as the fourth and last single from ''Ora'', on 11 February 2013. The song peaked at number 18 in the UK and number 23 in Australia.
Promotional singles
"Roc the Life" was released in the United Kingdom on 23 July 2012 as a promotional single, with a music video that featured footage of Ora on her UK tour appearing in September. A music video for "Facemelt" was directed by British photographer
Rankin and it was released on Hunger TV on 30 April.
Promotion
Live performances
In April, Ora sang a live acoustic version of "How We Do (Party)" on Wired 96.5 radio in Philadelphia. In April 2012, Ora performed "How We Do (Party)" and "R.I.P." live while supporting
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
on his
Club Paradise Tour in the UK. Ora performed "R.I.P." live in studio for
4Music
4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. It ...
's show, ''The Crush'', with a live band. On 23 June 2012, Ora performed at
Radio 1's Big Weekend
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...
, where she sang "Facemelt", "Roc the Life", "How We Do (Party)", "Shine Ya Light" and "R.I.P." Ora performed at various British music festivals in 2012, including
Wireless Festival
The Wireless Festival is a rap and urban music festival that takes place every year in London, England. It is owned and managed by Live Nation. While it started as primarily a rock and pop festival, in recent years it has focused on hip hop and ...
,
T in the Park 2012
T in the Park 2012 was a three-day music festival which took place from 6–8 July 2012 in Balado, Kinross. The Stone Roses were announced as the first headline act on 8 November 2011, appearing on Saturday 7 July 2012. Snow Patrol and Kasabian ...
and
V Festival. She performed "Shine Ya Light" on ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'' on 4 November 2012. On 18 August 2012, Ora performed at ''
The Jonathan Ross Show
''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jonatha ...
''.
Radioactive Tour
In January and February 2013 she embarked on a 12-date UK tour where according to ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', "stage-school trained Ora can rely on more traditional showbiz values to succeed" to put on a show. She worked with deceased designer
Emilio Pucci
Don Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (; 20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was an Italian aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Earl ...
on aspects of the presentation of the show.
;
* Ora was joined by
Tinie Tempah
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...
when performing "R.I.P." in London and Manchester.
*
Iggy Azalea
Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...
and Draper were support acts.
Track listing
;Notes
* Track listing and credits from album booklet.
*
signifies an additional
producer
*
signifies a vocal
producer
*
signifies a co-
producer
* "Facemelt" is originally "Brap" written and performed by Bart B More with original vocals performed by Rita Ora.
* "R.I.P." interpolates portions of "Heartbeat" written by N. Egbuna and F. Samadzada and performed by
Nneka.
* "Fall in Love" interpolates portions of "Handguns (Dada Life Remix)" written by Alexis Latrobe.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
Rita Ora albums
2012 debut albums
Albums produced by Chase & Status
Albums produced by Chris Loco
Albums produced by Diplo
Albums produced by Fraser T. Smith
Albums produced by Greg Kurstin
Albums produced by Stargate
Albums produced by The-Dream
Albums produced by the Runners
Albums produced by will.i.am
Columbia Records albums
Roc Nation albums