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Roc Nation songstress Rita Ora makes an appearance in the new September issue of GQ magazine, and talks a bit about her time under the tutelage of Jay-Z. Most interestingly that the “Roc The Life” singer had a few years to get her music and image in proper order.

Jay-Z signed the Kosovo-born Brit to his label, Roc Nation, in 2009. Then he did the unthinkable: He gave her three years to finish her new debut album, Ora. For most starlets, that’s a lotta bankable time wasted; for Rita, it was three years to evolve into a singer who will have a—gasp!—career. “The public’s not stupid,” she says. “You can tell an honest artist from one who’s just been given all their songs.”

Despite the time it took Ora to prepare her debut, Ora, which is out stateside on August 27th, we’ll still be hearing it before her labelmate. You know, Jay Electronica.

Read the full story here and check out more images from GQ’s photo shoot with Ora in the gallery.

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Photos: Sebastian Kim / GQ

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