Imanbek has seen insane growth over the past year, since releasing his remix of SAINt JHN’s “Roses” and going incredibly viral on TikTok, to the point the song now has over 1 billion streams on Spotify, nearly 20x more than his next most-streamed song. But not content to rest on his laurels, he just dropped Bang, a joint EP with Rita Ora spanning four tracks, including a collaboration with David Guetta & Gunna.
According to the press release, Rita reached out to people whose work she was excited by, starting with Imanbek whose “Roses” remix caught her attention.
He emailed some rough demos and beats; she built up from those, and as they went back and forth, he emerged as the primary creative partner for Bang. “Everything I did, I ran through Imanbek,” she says. “What I really found special about this process was that I grew up with albums that were bodies of work, made with one producer and one artist where it felt like they were living and breathing together—Aaliyah and Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell. I’ve always loved that, because it feels very genuine and committed and focused, and I think that shows in the music.”
Bang was Rita’s opportunity to evolve and leave her own comfort zone, a chance to explore and connect with other musicians in new ways. “It’s imperative that artists grow and create new pathways that are true to their artistic vision,” she says. “One of the best ways to do that is to work with others who challenge you and bring a different perspective, genre even or language to the table. Collaborations like this EP are just the beginning, the future is global.”
Check out the short film below, directed by Jasmine Loignon.
“Working with Rita was amazing on every front. There was a real will to push into a different territory she hadn’t explored before, and it was a chance I wasn’t going to pass up. With this film, we wanted to create a cinematic pop journey that felt different at every beat, rich in layers, heart and with depth. A film that paid homage to Rita’s roots through dance and fashion, and heart. An homage to freedom, and power.”
