Rita Ora just like we like her, stripped down and authentic. Check out her new Poison video. (Photo: ScreenCap)
Ora, 24, may be too much of a Rihanna knock-off to find a fan base in the United States. But she’s big in her native UK and Europe.
The video opens with her hanging out on a stoop with Euro-trash friends, who are nauseating, just too-cool-for-school proto-punks.
No doubt, they’re trust-fund babies as well. How else can they afford the clothes and the bling without working?
But Rita stands out, at least in the eyes of a creepy photographer who slinks onto the scene. He looks like a younger version of Andy Warhol. He snaps a few shots.
She storms across the street to bitch him out, and in a bold move he writes his address on her hand with a Sharpie. Good luck washing that off.
She shows up, and its a fashions studio where the Warhol-look-alike is busy behind the camera. He takes her ink-stained hand and literally shoves her in with two other hipster types. Then, it’s just her.
Before long she’s the center of attention. Stylists and makeup artists fuss over her until she emerges like a butterfly as a high-fashion diva.
She wears a 1960s-inspired black-and-white outfit that conjures up another ’60s-era icon, Warhol’s tragic it-girl Edie Sedgewick.
The problem is her life becomes all about looks, de-frizzing her hair and high-end parties with shallow people. She rebels, mess up her hair and strips down to the basics, a black bra, jacket and jeans.
There is a moral to the story. It’s about superficiality versus authenticity. Guess which one wins.
Yes, Rita chooses the latter, and flees a photo shoot for the streets. Like that would ever happen.
Check out the video below, let us know your thoughts and be sure to follow IM on Twitter for the latest music news and analysis.