Jay Z?’s ?Roc Nation? ‘Releasing’ ?Rita Ora From Label After Lawsuits Filed On Both Sides

Rapper Jay Z’s music label Roc Nation is releasing British singer and actress Rita Ora from the label, following a $2+ million lawsuit Roc Nation filed against Ora. Though that lawsuit came just months after Rita Ora filed her own lawsuit against the record label, claiming that her new music had not been released. A lot of drama has gone down between Jay Z/Roc Nation and Rita Ora over the last several months, and it doesn’t look as if things are going to get any better between them.

Jay Z originally signed Rita Ora, 25, to Roc Nation back in 2008. Jay Brown, affiliated with Roc Nation, asked Ora to fly down to New York to meet Jay Z, and within just 48 hours of her arrival to the United States, Rita Ora signed with Roc Nation in December 2008. The Albanian singer was only 18-years-old, but her singing career was about to take off in a very big way. Rita managed to have a cameo in Jay Z’s 2009 music video for “Young Forever,” off of The Blueprint 3. One year later, Rita made another cameo in the music video for “Over” by Drake from his debut album Thank Me Later. Ora had already recorded an album and was ready to release it, but the label advised her against it. Ora instead focused on material for her debut album, titled Ora, which was released on August 27, 2012.

Jay Z’s Roc Nation claims that they signed Rita Ora in 2008 when she was an unknown artist, and invested millions of dollars in building her career. It would then be up to Rita to make a total of five albums for the label, but Roc Nation says they only received one — 2012’s Ora.

“Roc Nation has tirelessly promoted her career, investing millions of dollars in marketing, recording and other costs, which was instrumental in guiding Ms. Ora to her current level of success and fame,” according to legal documents acquired by Page Six.

In December of 2015, Ora claims that she had completed material for her second album, but Roc Nation simply never released any of the new material. That’s when she filed a lawsuit against the record label, according to Daily Mail, and at the time the singer said she felt pretty abandoned.

“As Roc Nation’s interests diversified, there were fewer resources available and the company suffered a revolving door of executives,” Rita Ora’s suit read. “Rita’s remaining supporters at the label left or moved on to other activities, to the point where she no longer had a relationship with anyone at the company.”

Rita Ora has apparently been “self-funding her promotional television appearances, recording costs and video projects,” feeling completely “orphaned” by Jay Z’s Roc Nation. The record label made a switch with their distribution partners, going from Sony to Universal — but they left Rita Ora behind at Sony.

Roc Nation is suing Rita Ora https://t.co/RovmFaZnyA pic.twitter.com/PyBql9QCBA

— XXL Magazine (@XXL) February 1, 2016

“Between Sony’s limited economic return from its orphaned relationship with Roc Nation and Sony’s indirect relationship with Rita, Rita is caught in a political quagmire of dysfunction,” the complaint reads.

In 2015, the singer was releasing new singles, seemingly preparing for the release of her sophomore studio album with Roc Nation. Ora released her song “Poison” on June 28, which debuted at number three on the U.K. Singles Chart. The singer later released her song “Body on Me,” which featured R&B singer Chris Brown on August 7. It looks as if ever since Jay Z’s Roc Nation expanded into sports management along with other business interests, the career of Rita Ora was put on hold.

Roc Nation’s lawsuit against Ora claims that the young singer has not honored her “seven-year-rule” contract.

[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]