British-Albanian pop singer Rita Ora got her start in the late 2000s, quickly rising to the top of the UK charts with her debut album, simply titled Ora. Raised in Notting Hill, as an attendee of the famous Sylvia Young Theater School, Rita has been singing for most of her life.

Her shot came when one of Jay-Z's A&R men landed her a deal with Roc Nation, and her breakout success soon followed. After a brief period of label struggles and a messy split with Roc Nation, she reemerges with Phoenix, her 2nd release and first from Atlantic Records - featuring a star-studded cast of collaborators that includes Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, and Charli XCX. It’s a fantastic pop album that was worth the wait.

The video performance here is a Vevo Original live rendition of Only Want You, with a stripped-down band of electric bass, acoustic guitar, and Rhodes-style piano, along with a pair of backup singers. This punchy song covers a lot of ground in 2 and a half minutes: we feel the raw frustration of knowing what we want, but also being tired of fighting for less than we deserve.

Without any judgement, we take ownership of our own failures, and the chain of cause-and-effect that seems to be stuck in rewind. The only problem is that every conflict leaves a residue.

Only Want You, the self-affirming single from Rita Ora’s second album Phoenix, is that moment of understanding that the problem was never the relationship - it was just the troubling thought that you can choose who to love.

This song is featured on our CHILL Angeles playlist.