Rita Ora on Long-Awaited U.S. Album Release: ‘I Won The Battle’

This weekend, X Factor viewers threw their support behind Louisa Johnson, and crowned the 17-year-old the show's youngest-ever winner. First-time judge Rita Ora, who mentored Johnson through the competition, hopes her next album finds the same reception.

In an interview with Refinery29, the "Body On Me" singer opened up about the struggle to get a full EP stateside, even though her first two albums have done real damage to British charts (2012's Ora yielded three No. 1 singles). Once content to let her label dictate her career's course of action, she's finally taken her destiny into her own hands, she said, and the role of captain seems to suit her: her next album will land in the U.S. in 2016.

"It’s been seven years, and it has been a bit of a battle," she said. "With the first record, we didn’t expand to the United States. Label-wise, they said, it wasn’t the right time. I was only 19 or 20, and I was so excited to be making music and performing live. I didn’t know better. But now I do. I told them, ‘Look, I just want to release my album everywhere.’ Everybody thinks that they know best. But I won the battle."

And that long-awaited work, which features contributions from Dev Hynes, Ed Sheeran and Diplo, will be an edgier departure from the bubblegum fun of "I Will Never Let You Down."

"It has a darker, more sexual tone to it," she explained. “And I guess it’s more blunt."

Still, it's got at least one nostalgic track, appropriately called "Home."

"It’s about how I wanted to remind my hometown that I’m still here, you know?" she explained. "I’m always in the States and I’m always on the road, and sometimes when you're physically not here, people don’t think you're here, you know? But I’m here."

Check out the full interview, and tell us if you're excited for a full Rita album to finally hit the United States!

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