Rita Ora: “I Lived With Constant Anxiety”…After Being Signed By Jay-Z At 18!!!

Growing up as a Kosovo refugee in London, watching her parents restart careers and battle illness, left Rita with a deep drive to prove she deserved her place and to overwork. That same background fuels recurring nightmares about losing her success and a tendency to regulate her happiness entirely through work. She’s now working in therapy to compartmentalize setbacks so one bad outcome doesn’t erase everything she’s built.

Rita’s path from school choir to Roc Nation hinged less on a master plan and more on relentless presence: interning at studios for free, making tea, mopping floors, singing anonymous demos, and performing anywhere she could (her dad’s pub, Portobello Market, shoe shop playlists). An A&R only discovered her because she happened to be the voice on a demo playing in the room. Her advice: put yourself physically where opportunities live, even when there’s no immediate payoff.

Signed by Jay‑Z’s team at 18, Rita eagerly did “whatever they said,” believing big names must always be right. Looking back, the advice she wishes she’d had is: don’t believe every promise, and develop your own creative DNA so you can stand on your own, beyond quick hits or other people’s plans. She now questions big promises, asks for proof, and focuses on owning masters and controlling her narrative.

Her worst panic attack happened at 25, backstage at a Prince’s Trust event, despite years of success and high-profile recognition. She describes tingling hands, feeling like her legs would give way, then masking it, meeting the King, and performing anyway. Therapy helped her see that fear of having a panic attack can itself trigger more panic, and that fame pressure plus imposter feelings were key drivers.

Rita calls herself an “autopilot confident” person: she can perform, walk carpets, and project certainty while internally looping thoughts like, “Is this good enough?” She manages this gap through exercise, fasting, meditation, scent rituals, and avoiding situations that trigger panic. Acceptance that intrusive thoughts may always be there—but can be managed and ‘placed’—has been central to feeling calmer.