Eliza Rose was making music long before she was famous. In 2015, she released 'The Moonshine' EP, five tracks including a T-Pain cover alongside some beautiful R&B sounding just a bit like Amy Winehouse. "If I'm generally anything, I'm generally miserable" she sings on 'Straight & Narrow', the second track on the EP. Marilyn Monroe said the same thing in 1960. "Oh my god, old school!" says Rose, blushing at the mention of her early stuff. "You know what you're like when you're 21, 22, you're like, 'The world's awful!' The people I was really loving at that time were damaged heroines, like Amy Winehouse, Billie Holiday, Lana Del Rey..."
It's fair to surmise she's not miserable now. Her last single 'B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All)', officially released in August in collaboration with producer Interplanetary Criminal, went gold in the UK after topping the nation's singles chart, making Rose the first woman DJ to hit number one since Sonique in 2002. It's an addictive, unforgettable track, built on two chords sampled from Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's 1991 house hit 'Let the Beat Hit Em'. But it sounds better on 'B.O.T.A.', sped up, cut to a garage beat and paired with Rose's angelic chorus: "Do you wanna dance, baby? I know you see me looking at you on the daily..."
This story is from the December 2022/January 2023 edition of Rolling Stone UK.
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This story is from the December 2022/January 2023 edition of Rolling Stone UK.
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