Music icons Brandy and Rita Ora have officially joined forces on the heartfelt new duet \u201cGirl I Used to Be,\u201d one of the standout songs from Disney\u2019s highly anticipated Descendants: Wicked Wonderland soundtrack.<\/p>\n
The collaboration sees the two stars reunite on screen and in the recording studio as they reprise their beloved roles as Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts in the latest installment of the Descendants franchise. While the pair first shared the screen in Descendants: The Rise of Red, Girl I Used to Be marks their biggest musical moment together yet.<\/p>\n
Described as one of the emotional centerpieces of the film, Girl I Used to Be explores themes of growth, redemption, identity, and reflecting on the person you once were. The powerful ballad allows both singers to showcase their vocal chemistry, blending Brandy\u2019s signature soulful delivery with Rita Ora\u2019s contemporary pop style.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the collaboration ahead of the film\u2019s release, Brandy described the duet as \u201cmagical\u201d and said it was one of the moments she was most excited for audiences to experience. Rita Ora echoed those sentiments, revealing that collaborating with Brandy had been \u201ca dream\u201d and that the opportunity was years in the making, having admired the R&B legend throughout her career.<\/p>\n
The song arrives as part of the 12-track Descendants: Wicked Wonderland Original Soundtrack, which also features performances from Kylie Cantrall, Malia Baker, Leonardo Nam, Liamani Segura, and other members of the film\u2019s cast. Since its release, fans have singled out Girl I Used to Be as one of the soundtrack\u2019s emotional highlights.<\/p>\n
For Brandy, the release continues her celebrated legacy as one of R&B\u2019s most influential voices while revisiting the Cinderella character she first made iconic in the groundbreaking 1997 television adaptation. Rita Ora, meanwhile, continues to expand her presence in both music and film, balancing her pop career with a growing list of acting roles.<\/p>\n
Fans have flooded social media with praise for the collaboration, celebrating the vocal performances and the nostalgic reunion between the two stars. Many have described the duet as one of the soundtrack\u2019s standout moments and a fitting showcase for two artists whose careers have spanned decades.<\/p>\n
With Girl I Used to Be, Brandy and Rita Ora deliver more than just another soundtrack cut they offer a moving performance that adds emotional depth to Descendants: Wicked Wonderland while bringing together two generations of global talent in a collaboration that fans have warmly embraced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Music icons Brandy and Rita Ora have officially joined forces on the heartfelt new duet \u201cGirl I Used to Be,\u201d one of the standout songs from Disney\u2019s highly anticipated Descendants: Wicked Wonderland soundtrack. The collaboration sees the two stars reunite on screen and in the recording studio as they reprise their beloved roles as Cinderella […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[160],"class_list":["post-3703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","author-urbanafrica"],"authors":[{"term_id":160,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"urbanafrica","display_name":"URBANAFRICA","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-FFB50F59-0D6C-491C-BACA-64123F72D056.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-FFB50F59-0D6C-491C-BACA-64123F72D056.jpg"},"author_category":"1","first_name":"Emmanuel","last_name":"I","user_url":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/","job_title":"","description":"Top journalist covering music, entertainment, arts, and culture, delivering breaking stories and deep insights that shape the global conversation."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3705,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3703\/revisions\/3705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3703"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}