Rita Ora’s “HEAT” follows you around, gets stuck to your skin, and turns your casual BBQ into a neon-lit dance-off. I wasn’t planning to write about it. Then it played once. Then twice. And now I’ve got a full-blown case of Rita Oritis. The track is catchy in that almost suspicious way, where you check if someone laced your drink with glitter and serotonin. And maybe they did. Or maybe it’s just what Rita Ora does when she’s in full pop form.
Produced by Peter Thomas, “HEAT” bubbles with that disco-pop fizz we didn’t know we needed again, until we hit play. It’s bold, yes, but also playful—like someone dared Kylie Minogue and Doja Cat to collaborate in a sun-soaked Miami daydream. That bassline doesn’t even wait to be invited; it just takes over, while Rita’s vocals glide over the beat like she’s lived inside this groove for years. There’s zero pretense here, and that’s part of the charm. It’s cheeky, confident, and grinning all the way to the dancefloor.
The video, directed by Justin Daashuur Hopkins, leans all the way into the sweaty surrealism of Miami Beach, dripping with technicolour and people who look like they’ve escaped from a particularly fabulous fever dream. Think Martin Parr with a boom box. It doesn’t try to tell a deep story. It doesn’t need to. It just wants to be loud, weird, and fun—and that’s more than enough.
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And Rita Ora? She’s no stranger to chart firestarters. From “Phoenix” to “You & I“, she’s managed to toe that fine line between club-kid energy and classic pop polish. Her voice remains her not-so-secret weapon—effortless but emotional, precise without ever feeling cold. And while she’s branched into film, fashion, and business, “HEAT” reminds us: she’s still very much a pop star. A really, really good one.
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