Charles Hamilton and Rita Ora perform their new collaboration on Late Night with Seth Meyers last night (March 23). With Hamilton on the piano and Ora—who was dressed in a sharp suit with her hair slick back—providing the smoothing vocals, "New York Raining" performance felt like a scene out of Blue Note Jazz Club. The record was released earlier this month and is the 27-year-old’s first major single since 2008′s “Brooklyn Girls.” The song is off Hamilton’s forthcoming untitled debut album and was also preformed alongside Ora on the season finale of Fox’s hit series Empire, airing March 18.

The comeback for CH has been steadily picking up momentum. The Former XXL Freshmen was once thought to be the next big artist, signing to Interscope Records in 2008. Since then he's been in and out of mental hospitals and police custody. Now it looks like he has his mind focus and ready for a fresh start. We recently caught up with Hamilton and discussed him putting out new music.

"There is a certain nervous edge that comes with putting out any new music." he said. "I have been nervous about the Hamiltonization process. Thankfully, I have the type of fans and fanbase that will stand by me because they know I’m trying to take things elsewhere as opposed to staying stagnant."

Related: XXL Rewind: Charles Hamilton Freestyles For XXL (2010)
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