The two-word shorthand on U.K. pop star Rita Ora is either “Jay-Z protégée” or “next Rihanna,” depending on how confident you are in Jay’s abilities to turn his latest signee into an international superstar. We will say this: If you say the vaguely tounge-twister-y name “Rita Ora” over and over fast enough, you will eventually find a word that sounds kind of “Rihanna.” As for the look, well, if the “How We Do” video is any indication, she seems to share Rihanna’s enthusiasm for bejeweled pantslessness. Her first official single has been retitled from “Party and Bullshit,” as if the Biggie debt could be forgotten with a name change, but “How We Do” owes just as much to Katy Perry and Ke$ha and any other female who has ever sung sassily about not remembering what happened the other night after the booze started flowing. Put another way, it is certified Summer Jam material. Bonus: There’s a guy in the video with a Lego tie. Is that the look now?
