Listen to Rita Ora Cover ‘No Church in the Wild’ Live

Frank Ocean‘s shoes are pretty big for anyone to fill, but if anyone could do justice to ‘No Church in the Wild,’ it’s Jay-Z‘s own protege, Rita Ora. The Albanian-born songbird performed an acoustic cover of Jay and Kanye West‘s hit from ‘Watch the Throne,’ giving it a brand new spin.
Ora’s smoky voice gives the rap verses a more melodic edge, while her strong vocals are a jarring but beautiful contrast to Ocean’s soft and understated choruses on Radio 1′s Live Lounge. Her pretty-yet-gritty voice takes the track from a dark one to a song with an almost romantic tone.
This isn’t Ora’s first cover. She previously performed a song by Jay-Z’s wife Beyonce‘s former girl group Destiny’s Child — and it was one of the first times Jigga saw her sing live. “The first time I truly saw her on stage was at the Cartier event in New York City,” he recalls. “To have that sort of stage presence and that sort of energy — the music went off and she still was like — she still wanted to go. She jumped off the stage at one point and was dancing with the crowd. It was a great moment.”
Listen to Ora’s awesome cover below. Do you like it as much as the original? Tell us in the comments!