Zora - BELLAdonna

ZORA is a Minneapolis-based singer, rapper, and producer whose 2022 debut Z1 earned her a Rolling Stone Artist You Need to Know profile and widespread critical attention. BELLAdonna is her sophomore LP, a self-produced revenge album that channels Black gothic horror, hyper-pop, hip-hop, and '90s R&B. Developed over seven years in her bedroom, the album follows Belladonna, Zora’s scorned femme fatale alter ego complete with Doc Martens and wings, on a journey from rage to healing.

Drawing on horror influences from Nosferatu to Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45 and character driven records like Tyler, the Creator's IGOR, ZORA processes real experiences of exploitation, violence and redemption through a cinematic lens. The first side hits with “squelchy, trunk-rattling Miami bass and glitched-out, heavily processed production”. Uproxx.com The second side opens into slower, Control-era Janet Jackson-inflected R&B, revealing the vulnerability behind her armor.

Rolling Stone called it "a dark tale, full of spine-chilling frights and taboo thrills." ZORA herself describes BELLAdonna as "an act of trans resistance." PAPER Magazine