Rita Ora: 'Music allowed me to be open about feelings'

Rita Ora grew up trying to be “unbreakable” until she discovered songwriting as a form of release.

The 26-year-old singer was born in Pristina, Kosovo and moved to London with her parents Vera and Besnik and siblings when she was just a baby.

Watching her mother while growing up, Rita found herself wanting to follow in her powerful footsteps so much that she often held back on sharing her feelings - that is until she discovered music and penned her first album Ora, released in 2012.

“I always thought I had to be this kind of unbreakable person, just because my mom is - she’s so strong - and as a woman, I’ve always thought I had to be like that,” the star, who has dated the likes of Rob Kardashian and Calvin Harris, told Notion magazine.

“I really realized in songwriting, the more open you are the better it is for you, it’s really like therapy.”

Rita suffered some hiccups following the release of her debut record though as she ended up suing her former record label Roc Nation, helmed by rapper Jay Z, for not releasing any of her music. In return, the company countersued the popstar for breaching the terms of her contract, with the dispute settled outside of court last summer (16) allowing Rita to sign with another label.

She’s now been snapped up by Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and last month (May17) she dropped her new single Your Song.

“Warners was a brilliant family for me to be a part of, and now I am, and my friends are signed to them, you know Ed (Sheeran), Charli (XCX),” Rita explained. “I think for me it was really home for me without even knowing.”

She and Charli have already teamed up on track Doing It and the pair recently performed what's thought to be a new song together, titled Girls.