Ali started working in the New York offices of Versace when she was 17, where she attracted attention by singing at the Christmas parties.[12] A colleague from Versace introduced her to producer Markus Moser, who was looking for a female singer to collaborate on some of his original productions for a girl group in Germany.[14] The two teamed up with Moser working on production, while Ali wrote the lyrics and vocals for the songs.[16] Her first song was the single "Rapture", which she wrote in 30 minutes based on an encounter with an Australian nightclub patron.[17] A demo of the song was first played at the New York club Twilo in 2001 and received early support from influential DJ
Pete Tong who played the demo on his show on BBC Radio 1. The song eventually became an Ibiza favourite after support from prominent DJ's such as Sasha, Danny Tenaglia and Sander Kleinenberg during the summer season.[18] Released in late 2001 by Ministry of Sound, the single became a commercial success peaking at No. 2 on UK Singles Chart and Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart, while charting in several countries in Europe.